The Show Must Go On
by Fireshine
Summary: Bella is bored with her life in Forks, but then the circus comes to town bringing with it Edward Masen and love. However, Bella must fight for what she wants, and then between determined dads and so-called friends, she must fight some more to keep it. AH
1. BBHB

**Chapter one – BBHB**

I hummed and drummed my thumbs on my steering wheel as I drove to the supermarket. I sighed as I looked for a place to park the too small car park. The sight that met my eyes then was the highlight of my day so far: a space, quite near to the door! I swiftly parked and went to go do the grocery shopping, like I did every Friday from school. I quickly went round the shop with my shopping list and paid at the till, only to realise that it had started raining again. Not a surprise really.

I peered out the window at the drizzle, desperately wishing that I hadn't left my waterproof in my run-down truck, the clown of the car park. Great. Now I would have to run to my truck with all my groceries, meanwhile getting soaked and probably tripping a few times, knowing me. Thank god I didn't have far to run.

Typical. I tripped on my way out the door, sending the contents of my bags skittering all over the ground. Just great! Literally the best thing that's happened to me today has been finding a good parking space near the door, how great is my life? Even better than that, I'll have to carry all the shopping in on my own, in the rain... then cook dinner for me and Charlie. _Joy_. I sighed and gazed dejectedly at my scattered shopping, wishing I was someone else for just a few minutes, I mean, was that really too much to ask?

"Hey, are you alright? Do you need any help?" A smooth, rich voice asked.

I looked up into the startlingly bright emerald eyes of the most attractive guy I'd ever seen, let alone who had ever been nice enough to help me, "Uh... Yeah?" I asked, the sudden and complete absence of my brain leaving me speechless... and searching for something at least half-way intelligent to say.

He grinned at me and started to help me gather the groceries, we both stood up, him with two of my bags and one of his own and me with my remaining three bags. We both ran to my truck, heads bowed against the pelting rain and shoved my shopping inside. I turned to the helpful stranger once I was safely out of the rain.

"Thanks for all the help," I said gratefully as I looked more carefully at him for the first time. He wore an old grey coat that wasn't remotely waterproof – he definitely wasn't from around here – and slightly too big, he looked about my age and I could see the sleeve of his moth-eaten, woolly jumper just peeking out from under his coat, "You know, you don't look like you're from around here."

He grinned again – was he determined to prove just how attractive he was? I was mesmerised by his lips as he started talking, "I'm not, we're just in town for a few weeks... Well, bye then," he waved as he walked backwards for a small distance, then turned and started running.

I felt a small pang of guilt at being at least semi-dry in my truck with the heat on, I was starting to warm up quite nicely. While he was was looking – and probably feeling too – like a drowned rat as he ran across the car park... and he still managed to look incredibly attractive. I shouldn't have kept him stood in the down pour that was more characteristic of Forks, talking to me. Ok, the new highlight of my day was meeting... _him_, the beautiful, bronze-haired boy.

My weekend consisted of cooking, cleaning and reading... oh, and homework but I think it would be less painful for everyone if I just left that part out. While Charlie was out fishing I was left alone in the house, _fun_. Even the book I was reading, I'd already read a fair few times before, I guess it was just adding to the monotony of my existence. Charlie barely spoke for the few hours he was in the house and awake – again, not really a surprise there. I was so bored of my life. Even my happy friend Jake was becoming predictable – perpetual happiness is not as exciting as it sounds – and I found myself wanting something a little different, for something to happen. But would it? Really, not much had changed or happened since I'd moved back here.

On Monday, Charlie came home and was unusually vocal. He had been muttering and grumbling under his breath all evening since he came home until he finally exploded over my lasagne... not literally, that would be just gross.

"We shouldn't let those flaming travellers stay in that field, it's a public area! _Kids_ sometimes play there! We'll have a bloody big clean up job after they've gone, we always do! No respect for anything bloody pikeys!" Charlie vented. Being a police chief, he was more exposed to the worse aspects of society – especially travellers – than the better aspects.

"Oh, what are these ones up to then? Faulty drives? Half-hearted drain clearing? Streaky window cleaning?" I asked, already trying to predict in my head what he would be grumbling about for the entire time they would be here for.

"Circus," Charlie grunted, grudgingly admitting that these travellers at least were making honest money. I was a little surprised at first, but I quickly turned my thoughts to making plans to go see the circus next weekend, it was something different to do, why not? Granted, going to the circus wasn't quite the escape from my rut that I had in mind, but at least it was a start, right?

On Tuesday I stumbled my way through school and arrived home to the sound of the phone ringing. It was Jake calling to ask me – five points to whoever guesses right – if I wanted to go to the circus while it was here. I really should've factored him into my plans.

"Hey Jake," I said breathlessly into the phone after rushing to get to it before the answer phone picked up.

"Hey Bella! Listen, there's a circus in town! Quil and Embry have already been and they said they want to join! Ha! So I was thinking maybe we could go... but we'd have to take Seth as well."

"As if Seth could put me off, I happen to actually like Seth you know, he's very kind and sweet," I replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Just try having him want to follow you everywhere you go."

I really didn't want to get into that argument again – been there, done that more times than I can count – so I changed the subject, "So when are we going? Can it be this Saturday cause I'm usually exhausted on Fridays after I get the shopping in and cook dinner."

"You know, you sound just like a mum," Jake chuckled.

I huffed in irritation. Again, I should've expected that Jake would find some way to annoy me within the first five minutes of conversation, "Better than sounding like an immature twelve-year-old," I retorted, to which Jake simply laughed.

Jake hung up with barely a _bye Bella_. I sighed and decided to do something other than fish for dinner. I didn't know about Charlie, but I was getting sick and tired of fish nearly every night... maybe I could get Charlie into hunting instead. The rest of my evening was uneventful.

On Wednesday, Mike finally got the hint – more like a blaring neon sign with sirens and confetti – that Jessica liked him. Thank god. He stopped hanging on my every word like it was the difference between life and death, at first, it had been flattering, but then it got uncomfortable – especially after I'd rejected him a few times. We had a test in Biology and in English, just to make my day so much better. I hate Wednesdays, the only lesson I actually like on Wednesdays was English. And then my truck ran out of petrol... before I could get to the garage to fill it up. Just my luck. I let my head bang on the steering wheel and groaned, half in exasperation, half in defeat.

"Hey, do you need a push?" a voice that I vaguely recognised sounded from my left.

I looked up and was a little surprised to see the helpful stranger had appeared, just when I needed him again. I quickly took all of him in, he was wearing the same over-sized coat as Friday and some old jeans, at least he didn't look like a drowned rat again. My eyes ran back up to his face – I couldn't see his shoes as the opaque part of the car door blocked them out – the amount of charm this guy had was ridiculous. He looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him. My brain had once again been wiped blank by surprise – but mostly his good looks – leaving me incapable of speech.

As I stared his smile faltered. Oh no, he was probably thinking that I was wondering how to reject him nicely – I had seen the same look on Mike's face about a million times before when I was trying to think of new things to be doing when Mike asked me out. I watched in horror as the rejection seemed to wash over him.

"Ok, I get it. I'll just... leave you to it then," He backed away with his hands held up in surrender and just as he turned to walk away I scrambled around in my embarrassingly empty head and finally blurted out something.

"No, wait!" he turned back to me, "Sorry, I was just... really surprised to see you – although I really shouldn't be, I mean the town is _that_ small, I really should've been expecting to see you again, even if it is twice in one week," I stuttered trying to make up for the stunned state of my brain earlier.

He grinned – is it me or does he do that a lot? – and walked to the back of my truck and together we managed to roll my truck into the petrol station so I could fill it up. "So, thanks again."

"It's my pleasure, fair damsel," he bowed with an over-the-top flourish and a crooked smile.

I laughed and shook my head at his playfulness as I walked to the other side of the truck to fill it up. I couldn't help but peek up at him as he walked into the shop... then it occurred to me that I hadn't seen his car, did he have one? I frowned, there wasn't much of a path along this road, the petrol station was on the outskirts of town, so not many people walked along here.

I went inside to pay – I looked for him but he must have already bought his things – got back in my truck and started to drive home. But I didn't get very far because, as I was pulling out onto the road I saw a certain familiar figure sigh and walk out into the rain that had once again picked up while I was inside the shop. I immediately pulled up beside him as he was trudging through the long grass verge on the side of the road. He was carrying two bags of dog food, three bags of apples and an assortment of sweets.

"Hey! Do you need a lift?" I called out the window.

He looked up in surprise and squinted against the rain. He was already soaked through and shivering – today was a lot colder than Friday – he looked like a lost puppy that you couldn't help but take home and cuddle and stroke all the time... not that I would actually do that though, that would be a little bit creepy. The beautiful, bronze-haired boy – aka BBHB for short – looked torn as he hovered on the edge of the road, so I leaned over and opened the passenger door for him.

As soon as I opened the door, BBHB's eyes snapped to look longingly at the warm, dry inside of my truck, "Ok then," he reluctantly agreed and hopped after unloading his arms. "Thanks," BBHB said as he sat in the passenger seat.

"So, where to?" I asked smiling at him.

"Er..." he hesitated. He shifted uncomfortably and I wondered what could be embarrassing about where he lived – Forks wasn't _that_ big a town, it didn't have rich areas and poor areas. Then he quickly and quietly mumbled, "the field up the hill by the camp-site."

I had to concentrate to catch it, but when I did , I just nodded and drove. After a while the awkwardness grew impossible to ignore, "So, how old are you?" I asked – it was the first thing that popped into my head, don't judge me!

"Sixteen, I'm gonna be seventeen soon, I cant wait until my birthday."

"Trust me, seventeen isn't all it's cracked up to be, during the months so far that I've been seventeen my life has been even more boring," I replied.

BBHB threw back his head and laughed – finally someone who appreciated my wit – then said, "No, I don't really care about actually being seventeen, but every birthday my mum makes the best chocolate cake _ever_. Then everyone gets some and the biggest slice is always saved for the birthday... person. My birthday's next and mum only makes it on birthdays."

"Wow, that sounds nice," I said trying to imagine that happening with my own family, "If that happened in my family, I would be stuck making the cake since no-one I know can actually cook."

BBHB laughed and I joined in, "Don't worry, I'll come and make you the cake, I always help my mum make the cake so I'm sure I would be fine doing it on my own for you."

I gasped and put one hand over my chest, "Wow, I feel so honoured," I fluttered my eyelashes at him, playing the fair damsel like he called me before.

"Well, you never know, when it's your birthday I might just turn up at on your doorstep to make you the best cake you have ever eaten... you might have to make the rest of the food though – there's not much apart from that cake that I can actually make."

"Oh, that's fine, as long as I get my cake I'm happy."

"Then you shall be happy milady, as I shall make you the sacred cake of birthdays."

"Why thank you, kind sir," I replied, mimicking his archaic tone.

Suddenly BBHB sat up straighter in his seat and suddenly said, "Just here's fine thanks." I looked around but couldn't see anything inhabitable, I tried to protest but he insisted I drop him off there. So I reluctantly pulled over and watched slightly bewildered as he jumped out, grabbed his things and ran off after he quickly but cheerily said thanks and bye to me.

I watched him disappear around the corner then shrugged and began the extremely long and difficult process of turning my big truck around in this decidedly narrow road. They really should put this on the driving exam – it took me _that_ long. So, after approximately five billion years, I drove home.

On Thursday, the only thing of note was that the sun was shining... and I smiled – I mean a real, _genuine_ smile. Why was I even living in a place as wet as Forks when the rain made me so miserable? Oh yeah, because my mum started trailing after Phill all over the US. Leaving Charlie as my only option.

I also wondered why BBHB was so embarrassed about staying on a camp-site for a few weeks. I mean, _some_ people apparently seem to enjoy living in incessant wetness like that. I just preferred to be able to dry off at the end of the day. Nothing wrong with that at all... or camping, nothing wrong with camping at all – unless anyone decides to drag me along, then its totally _not_ ok.

Friday, I went grocery shopping... again. I knew it probably wasn't going to happen but I couldn't stop myself from hoping. I couldn't stop myself from looking around every five seconds. I couldn't stop myself from being disappointed when I didn't see him. Of course my life was still as mundane as last week. What had really changed? Other than meeting a – beautiful – helpful stranger, twice... who I still didn't know the name of. Oh yeah, and Jake and Seth and I are going to the circus. My life is so exciting now!

Just as I was hauling the last of the shopping bags in, the phone rang. There was really only one person it could be, Jake – ok, _technically_ it could be other people, but I would bet everything I own and then some, that it would be Jake.

"Hi Jake," I said, not even bothering to look at the caller ID, I bet he wont even say _hello_...

"Guess what?" I just did, and – guess what? I got it right! He sounded pretty pleased with himself anyway.

"What?" I asked, thinking how the conversation would have to be fairly short or else all of the frozen food will melt.

"I got us out of taking Seth!" he said excitedly, next would come... an explanation of why we weren't taking Seth any more, then he'll try to modify our... trip to get a little extra time with me – I was starting to see something similar to Mike in his actions, I hoped I wouldn't have to reject Jake too, "Sue and Harry decided they were going and they would take Seth. So, would you like to go on a picnic before? You know, make a day of it?" score! I think I like my new game.

I briefly contemplated saying I was busy then... but Jake knew I wouldn't be busy then, damn. "Ok," I replied, _please don't mention the first aid kit, please don't mention the first aid kit, please don't mention the first aid kit!_

"Great! I'll at yours for twelve, don't forget your hiking boots or the food... or the first aid kit!" _Damn._

"Sure, bye Jake," I hung up and hurried to save the frozen food from death by defrost.

Conversation at the dinner table consisted mainly of: "I might be home late tomorrow.", "Why?", "I'm going to see the circus with Jake." _Grunt..._ How articulate.

Saturday, I woke up late and had time for my breakfast, one piece of homework and packing our lunch before Jake was knocking on my door. He was a little early so I let him in and made him wait as I continued getting ready. We ended up leaving the house at ten to twelve anyway because Jake was so eager, that boy's appetite knows no bounds, or by the looks of things, the feeling of being full.

Jake drove us to where the trail started then he took the bag for the short hike to the small picnic area. The sun was shining which was a good thing, but it did little to improve the temperature, it was mid November, I was surprised it had stayed warm for as long as it had.

However, the _short_ hike ended up lasting an hour and a half. I don't care what Jake says, he definitely got us lost, I know my natural sense of direction was kinda the bargain offer that doesn't really work properly – same goes for my balance by the way – but even I could tell we were going round in circles. Anyway, the hike was only meant to take fifteen minutes, instead it took six times that! And no, the picnic area did not _move_, if anyone asks – if you do you lose three points.

Me and Jake took out the food then proceeded scarf it down and he probably would've eaten everything, had I not managed to steal some morsels for myself. I swear, when Jake was introduced to solids, it was like love at first sight, when Jake is around food, nothing else exists. I still couldn't decide whether I found it more funny or disgusting, I studied him for a bit as he was eating then decided... disgusting, he was definitely disgusting.

I looked around at the other picnic tables which were completely deserted, it was nice and quiet. Peaceful. I looked at my watch and my eyes shot up, we'd been at this table for forty-five minutes already, we only had three hours forty-five minutes until we were meant to be at the circus and I wanted to leave early in case the road decided to move this time. I looked around again thinking how much nicer everything looked in the sunshine... which led to me making myself miserable over how much rain Forks got.

Just as my thoughts has once again turned more pleasant, Jacob's hand clicking in front of my face broke me out of my daydreaming – I was already annoyed at him, did he have to go and make things worse for himself? I looked at Jake expecting something fairly important to come out of his mouth like I'd been daydreaming for three hours or something.

"You were daydreaming again, Bella," he said.

"I know, I was kinda the one doing it Jake," I replied sarcastically.

Jacob chuckled and shook his head like I was an amusing child to him, he was really starting to piss me off today; first, he gets us lost in the woods. Second, he snaps me out of a really good daydream. Third, he talks to me as if I'm thick. Suddenly I was tired and wanted to go home, but I was too excited about the circus later to do that, I could put up with Jake until we got to the circus... I think.

My thoughts started to drift again and after a little while, I looked at my watch again, it was half-past two. Now I had only three and a half more hours to go, maybe I could convince Jake to get there early by pretending I'm really excited about the circus – which really wouldn't involve much pretending. I started to think about how I could persuade Jake into leaving early.

Jake clicked his hand in front of my face again, "You were daydreaming again, Bella," he said while looking amused – which I didn't find remotely amusing at all.

"No shit Sherlock," I retorted before I quickly resumed planning out how I was going to get out of here early with a lot more vigour. Was he being this annoying on purpose?

"Do you wanna play that game we used to when we was little where you have to find the pictures in the clouds?" oh my god, he was a little child!

"Fine," I sighed and turned my head to the sky.

Once I'd got Jake entertained, I was able to relax. Maybe the afternoon could be salvaged? We ended up making pictures out of clouds contentedly for two and a half hours, until I felt Jacob's hand on my own. It wasn't so bad, I mean he was my friend, and it was just my _hand_, so I was fine with it. Then our shoulders were touching, then our thighs then Jake leant his head on my shoulder and by now I was starting to get a little uncomfortable. It felt too... _intimate_. It felt weird. And apparently, Jacob wasn't getting this vibe.

I shrugged out from under him as casually as I could and went back to cloud watching... until Jake ruined everything. I suppose I cant really blame him, although I was happy until he opened his big mouth. I suppose it had to come out some time though, honestly, I was expecting it.

"Bella, do you ever think we could be... you know, more than friends?"

I sighed, "Are you asking me out Jacob?"

"Bella, I like you, I think you're really pretty and you're a really good cook and I like everything about you," he pleaded with me.

"You hardly know anything about me Jake," I said softly.

"I know you're never busy, I know you're really clumsy I know you blush really easily! What more is there?"

"What's my favourite flower? What's my favourite film? What's my favourite food?" I challenged, it didn't escape my notice how he only spoke about _him_ liking things about _me_, not about how I might feel about him.

"Er... Roses? And we always watch _transporter 2_ and have a barbecue whenever I come round," and he still insisted he knew me?

"My favourite flowers are fresias, my favourite film is _twilight_ and my favourite food is chicken korma," I corrected him, "_Transporter 2_ and barbecues are _your_ favourites, just because I never protested doesn't mean I like them _quite_ as much as you do Jake, actually, I don't think _anyone_ likes them quite as much as you do."

He looked like a wounded puppy, but not the cute kind, the pathetic kind. He was going to protest, tell me how much me likes me and that I should give him a chance – I'd heard it all before with Mike. Neither of them stopped to ask me how I felt. But I was tired of hearing it so I cut him off, "Should we just go to the circus now? I'm sorry Jacob, but I don't like you that way, and I totally understand if this makes things awkward and maybe it would be best if we took like a break."

Jake nodded and reluctantly picked up the bag and led the way back to his car. It only took forty-five minutes this time. We ended up getting to the circus quite early, but they had some horses on display and also them cheep, flashing souvenirs that kids always manage to trick their parents into buying somehow. After briefly looking at what was on sale and going to the toilet – I swear, the queue to the ladies in a public place is always _ginormous_ – I went to the horses, they were my favourite animals.

Suddenly I looked up and saw bronze hair that could only belong to one person – I mean, I _did_ nickname him BBHB! He was looking around frantically, like he'd lost someone. He started heading this way and I'm sure he hadn't seen me but I felt as if he was heading straight for me. Then he was _right there_... and Jake was asking who he was looking for.

"Uh... yeah, she's about waist height, completely evil and answers to the name Bree. You haven't seen her have you? I mean, she was supposed to be with Riley, but she wasn't and now I have no idea where she is!" he said worriedly, barely shooting me a weak smile.

As we were shaking our heads, BBHB's eyes zeroed in on a spot just behind us, "Bree!" he shouted before lunging and grabbing the giggling and squealing five-year-old and squeezing her tightly. I smiled as his head dropped to her shoulder in relief, it was cute. He continued to hold her off the ground and situated her into a more comfortable position as he lingered a little awkwardly. This time, BBHB broke the silence.

"So... you like the horses, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah, I've actually always wanted to be able to ride a horse," I replied, almost forgetting about Jacob.

"Same," Jake supplied while BBHB smiled and nodded before his head snapped to look over his shoulder – the crowd was quite loud so I couldn't discern which shout had caused him to look over his shoulder. He turned back to us – ok, _me_, "Look, I've really got to go, get Bree back and all..." he trailed off apologetically, before hurrying off while barely succeeding in controlling the squirming child in his clutches.

Jake narrowed his eyes at me, "Does he have something to do with not going out with me?" he asked ominously.

"Oh _please_, Jake! We're not actually going out, you cant stop me from seeing other people," I snorted, like hell he could tell me what to do!

"You cant be serious, just look at his clothes! He cant even afford his own clothes Bella! Do you really want to spend your life with someone who cant make a decent living?"

"I think you should go buy some popcorn, Jacob," I said icily, he was _not_, going to stand there and insult BBHB – even if his clothes did seem second... or fourth hand – and he was certainly not going to tell me I couldn't go out with him because he was poor!

Whether or not Jacob knew his mistake, we went to buy popcorn – I couldn't care less whether he knew his mistake or not, I couldn't actually _believe_ he said that! He was so conceited! And full of himself! Seething, I turned back to the horses on display, I wondered if they were all going to be used in the show tonight.

"I couldn't help but notice you admiring the horses," a deep voice came from just over my shoulder, making me jump. Only a little.

I turned round to face him and shrugged nonchalantly, trying to not find the stranger a little creepy – never judge a book by its cover. But the stranger just stepped closer to me – not helping with the creepy vibe I was getting – and said, "You know, I'm actually on one of the horses in the show. I'm actually the sheriff... the one that always win and gets the girl," he smirked cockily at me.

"Well, I've always had a soft spot for the bad guy, I guess," I said while discreetly stepping away from him, closer to the next horse.

"I'm Riley by the way," he said as he held out his hand. I looked at it for a moment before I was saved by Jake coming back and announcing that he had popcorn. I had never been more grateful to see him in my life, so I just led him to the entrance of the big tent so we could get our seats for the show.

The first act on stage was juggling, there were about four people in the ring, all dressed up and doing some pretty impressive stuff. I was completely enjoying myself and starting to forget the drama of earlier that day until I looked closely at one of the jugglers... Oh. My. God! It was BBHB! I _really_ have to find out his name at some point. But there he was, juggling and gracefully playing his part of the act.

The next act he was in was so ironic I was sure there must be someone up there writing this shit. He was the bad guy in the little horsey-western thing they had going on! And again, he was pretty impressive! He could not only ride a horse, but ride a horse while defending himself against Riley... and do some weird horse-back gymnastics type stuff in the saddle like you see in the oriental marshal arts films, where the really good fighters seem to defy the laws of physics. I was completely in awe of him... until he started losing the battle. I bet if that fight wasn't scripted he would win.

In the interval – just after Riley had captured BBHB – he was placed in the stocks where people could pay to throw wet sponges at him. I was slightly horrified – I was probably still a little over-sensitive to that stuff after Jacob's tirade – and slightly dazed – that he was in the circus – but I saw him grin as a little came up and smacked the sponge down on his head, then shake his hair at her and getting her wet. I couldn't help but smirk too – the little git got what she deserved.

He wasn't in very many acts after that and I was kinda disappointed that I wouldn't see so much of him, but then I realised it would be ridiculous if he was in all the acts, I mean, it wasn't as if he didn't need to eat or sleep, was it? But, nevertheless, the sheriff and the bad boy – its not actually _supposed_ to sound dirty, no matter what you people think – did make a few reappearances, which generally involved Edward causing havoc in his cheeky way then the sheriff coming and recapturing him.

I sat there dazed as the circus emptied itself – must my brain abandon me every time I see BBHB! Only the hand of a concerned elderly lady got me to get up. I hurried off to find Jake through the half empty tent and field, I didn't realise how long I had sat there, immersed entirely in my thoughts. Why didn't Jake nudge me or something? Or was he still in a bad mood because I wouldn't go out with him? I think that was probably it.

I eventually made it over to Jake, only to find him grumbling about the muddy state of his car. He was really pissed off and I couldn't be bothered to listen to him. I just told him it was only a car and to take me home. Which he did, reluctantly – he was still probably fantasising about how to get the culprit back. Oh well.


	2. behind the scenes

**Chapter 2 - behind the scenes  
**

I decided to go see BBHB, I mean, I know I'd only ran into him three times now, but even when I saw him _at_ the circus, he still didn't say anything. I had thought we were friends, or at least _becoming_ friends, I had told him of my secret desire to be able to ride a horse, then later that night, I find out he's probably qualified enough to teach me himself. Would he have offered if he got the chance? I hoped the answer was yes, I'd had that wish a really, _really_ long time.

I also felt like I needed to apologise for Jake yesterday, even though BBHB didn't hear a word Jake said... and I still couldn't believe he actually said that! Is that really what he thinks of me? That I would go out with someone for their _money?_ Why would he even say that? Is that what he thinks is important? Money? Would _he_ only go out with someone for their money? But that doesn't make sense since he asked me out and I'm not rich... but I'm richer than him... and my dad is the chief of police. Is that why he asked me out?

I parked just inside the field, I didn't want to do something that might scare him off – he'd already run away from me three times now. He was definitely slippery. I walked across the mud, my mitten-encased hands pulling my hat further over my ears then pulling my coat tighter around me. I folded my thick arms with a little difficulty over my front to keep my coat in place. I never adjusted to weather in Forks after so many years in Phoenix.

I had no idea how I would approach someone who lives in the circus – I mean, it's not like I could just knock on the door. I was getting steadily closer to the main circus tent and I still had no idea how I was going to find... BBHB – seriously! I need to find out his real name! Preferably _before_ I call him BBHB by accident. Did they even sleep in the big tent or somewhere else? I decided it was probably somewhere else so I walked around to see if there was any indication of where he – or anyone else – slept. Fortunately, before I could wander too far and make a fool out of myself, I heard a commotion going on just a bit to my left.

I could hear two sets of delighted giggles and then the voice I was looking for met my ears. "No!" he cried playfully dramatically, "Bree, I've told you too many times not to do that, I'm not actually washing this car for the benefit of my health you know, I'm _trying_ to get it clean." I heard a squeal and came round the corner to see BBHB holding the same girl – Bree – from last night upside down over the bucket he was using to wash the car, "Next time, you'll actually be going in it!" he threatened before setting her back on her feet.

"I'm going to tell mum of you!" Bree huffed.

"Go ahead, tell your mum. Just... don't tell your dad, he's very scary," BBHB retorted.

"Awww!" she complained, "That's not fair! You never let me tell anyone scary!"

"It's called being smart," he quipped before turning to inspect the proverbial damage to the car, it looked like the little girl had been using the car for target practice – I think the big mud splatters gave it away. Bree was sat on step leading up to the caravan, the door was open and there was a toddler sat, surrounded by toys inside and Bree started talking at her.

When I was pretty close, I decided to elegantly and gracefully make my presence known... unfortunately, I never got the hang of the red carpet version, "Hi," I said, slightly awkwardly.

BBHB's head whipped around in shock and our eyes met for a second before he spoke and his demeanour changed completely. All his confidence and playfulness vanished, his shoulders hunched over and he shoved his hands deep in his pockets keeping his arms tight to his sides and his posture became shy and defensive, like he was expecting me to attack him or something, "Hi," he replied then turned to Bree and said, "Bree, could you go in there and find my hat please, so I don't have to take my boots off."

Bree looked between me and BBHB – ok, the first thing I'm going to do is ask him his name – for a few seconds before nodding and scampering inside to find his hat. He strode up to me and looked, not at my even shoes, but at the space on the ground next to my shoes – and as I looked up at him, he had never seemed so small. Then he spoke, "Er, I don't think anything was left here last night, but I could take you to look around if you like."

He fidgeted a lot due to his nervousness, so I spoke to put him out of his misery a little, "I didn't leave anything here last night."

This just seemed to confuse him, his brows furrowed and his gaze flickered up to me twice. He spoke again, "Look, if you're mad that I didn't tell you that I'm... in the circus, then I'm sorry," he seemed to be grasping at straws, then he turned sad and resigned, "I wont come near you again if you don't want."

"I'm not mad," I said, and I wasn't. Sure, it was a little strange to find out, but I wasn't mad – and even if I was, he would make it impossible to stay mad anyway.

He looked at me properly then, "Why are you here?" he asked it, not insultingly, but like he really couldn't understand what I was doing there.

"I had an empty Sunday morning in front of me, and I thought it might be nice to have some company. And now I know where you're staying..." I trailed off, finding it unnecessary to add in the stuff he already knew.

Now this _really_ seemed to throw him. He looked at me blankly for a few moments and by now it was really hard not to laugh... not in a mean way. Obviously. He looked utterly speechless and confused, so I decided to help him out. "Hey, what's your name?" I asked because, honestly, I was dying to know – although BBHB was certainly descriptive, it was getting a little old.

"Er... Edward," he answered automatically, still looking extremely dazed.

I smiled brightly and stuck my hand out – what? Stop looking at me like that! This was the first time ever that I had actually been in charge of a conversation! "Bella," I said as Edward – see, _Edward_ sounds so much better than BBHB – hesitantly took my hand and shook it.

His hand was big and warm in mine, and I could also feel his rough, calloused skin scraping against my palm. I smiled at his touch, because... well, because I couldn't help it. I looked up to see Edward smiling as well, but it was still cautious, as if he was convinced there was something he was missing.

Bree came running up to us then, "Edward, I can't find your hat!" she sang as she ran. She stopped right by his leg and wrapped her arms around it. I saw Edward's grin turn mischievous, as he looked down to Bree – not letting go of my hand.

"Oh, well its a good thing I've got it right here, then," he said as his other hand went to his back pocket and pulled out a woolly hat and jammed it unceremoniously onto his head. Unfortunately, to do that, he had to let go of my hand – what? I'm just reporting the facts accurately!

Edward turned back to me, "I have to finish washing this car now but later, I mean, do you... I dunno, wanna go see the horses?" he asked uncertainly.

"Sure," I replied enthusiastically, trying to assuage his shyness – what he had to be shy about, I didn't know. Its not like I was particularly intimidating or anything, or that he wasn't the best looking guy in America... or the world. But it worked, he grinned at me and stood a little straighter, _good. _

Edward turned and walked back to the car. I had the strangest sense of de ja vu as I followed him but quickly shook it off. I sat on the step by Bree and she immediately started chatting to me happily, it seemed like she was afraid I would suddenly disappear and she wanted to tell me as much about herself as she could as quickly as she could. Edward chuckled quietly as he resumed cleaning the car. I tried to give Bree all my attention – really, _really_ hard – but my eyes kept straying to Edward.

Suddenly Edward came over, "I'm just going to get some clean water, I'll only be about ten minutes, you'll be alright with Bree and Maggie, wont you?"

I nodded sending Edward off with his bucket but then his words finally registered with me and I did a double take, _ten_ minutes? Why would it take _ten minutes_? And how was I supposed to look after two kids for that long without supervision? I started panicking for a minute until Bree pulled my attention to her with a story about something funny that happened in Wisconsin.

It was nearly twenty minutes later Edward came trudging around the corner... wet. It was like he had turned the bucket upside down over his head. His hair was drenched and I could see the dark stains dripping down his chest and shoulders, there were a few drips on his jeans, but they were mostly dry. He was shivering again as he strode straight past me, dropped the bucket next to the car, and ran up the stairs to the caravan after stepping out of his boots. I gasped as soon as I saw him and watched with wide eyes, he didn't glance my way once.

When he was inside he started taking his coat off and then it dawned on me that he was changing into dry clothes. My eyes widened even more and I spun round to face the car – although a small part of me wasn't so keen on the whole averting my eyes thingy. My mind could come up with only one explanation: someone had dumped his bucket of water over him. He jumped down the stairs in a dry t-shirt and hoodie and started roughly rinsing the car off, he remained silent.

Then I noticed that Bree had stopped talking around the same time I stopped even pretending to pay attention to her. I watched, concerned, as Edward pushed his sleeves up and then proceeded to chuck the bucket over the car. He stood there, panting for a moment before he came and sat dejectedly on the step just the other side of Bree. I stared at him for awhile as he gradually eased up.

"What happened?" I asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

"I spilt water over myself," he answered in a monotone, _I _knew he was lying, _he_ knew I knew he was lying... I didn't feel it necessary to call him on his bullshit.

Another minute or two passed in silence and as soon as Edward was moderately relaxed, he turned to me, "Did you want to go see the horses now or something?" I was saddened to see his earlier confidence had once again evaporated and he was once again the defensive Edward who met me when I first arrived here.

I saw red but held it in and simply nodded, not trusting myself to speak, I couldn't help but think back to when Jake was belittling him to me. Edward got up, turned and picked up the toddler – Maggie – balancing her expertly on his hip and held out a hand to Bree. She took his hand and held the other out to me, she was still solemn as she walked between us. However, as soon as we got to where the horses were kept, she perked up and started telling me all about them.

Midnight was the black one with a white star and two white socks, the one that Edward rode – although he could ride all of them and has – Basil was a palomino, the one Riley rode and there was also Arabella, Inferno, Flyer and Stardust, who was a white stallion and extremely stubborn – apparently she will only let Edward and his mum Elizabeth ride her. Needless to say, they didn't exactly trust her in front of an audience.

"Riley should be up by now," Edward said quietly, "I'll go leave Maggie with him and then get some apples for the horses, is it ok if I leave Bree with you or...?" he trailed off.

"No, I'm fine," I whispered, I don't know why, but the horses seemed to instil a sense of peace in me when I was stroking them, even Bree was calmer after she'd ran out of things to say. I wondered if it was the horses or the fact that she'd been subdued since Edward came back dripping wet, she was probably a little aware that Edward was bullied.

Edward came back five minutes later with one of the bags of apples I'd seen him carrying on Wednesday. He had a look of slight irritation on his face but once he reached us he – everything – seemed more serene and tranquil. We each got two apples to feed two of the horses each and we spent some time stroking them some more.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out, a quick check of the screen revealed that I had a text from Jake. _Hey Bella! Really sorry about last night, please can we meet up today and I'll make it up to you :) Jake xxx_

I rolled my eyes, I usually would've text him back saying it was ok and that I forgave him... but I really didn't feel like it right with the person he had insulted stood right next to me. I was still pissed off at him. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and carried on stroking the horses, the presence of the animals and the repetitive motion soothing my anger and annoyance. Then suddenly it was lunch time.

"Do you want something to eat?" Edward asked. My stomach growled making everyone chuckle, "I'll take that as a _yes_ then," Edward said.

Edward led me and Bree back to the same caravan he was washing the car in front of before...only the car had gone. "Where did that car go?" I asked.

Edward sighed heavily, "The owner and his friends came to collect it," he replied. He set Bree down on one of the two beds in here and started rummaging around in the cupboards as he called over his shoulder, "There's not much in here, but I could make you a sandwich?"

"Sure, a sandwich is fine, could I have ham and cucumber please?" I replied as I hovered in the doorway, feeling out of place. I looked around the caravan, it was decorated in a garish seventies style, but it was clean and moderately tidy. Over each bed was a shelf, one was almost overflowing with books and journals and the other had an odd combination of a couple of barbies and a signed baseball.

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket again – five points for whoever guesses who it is, _Bella, when are you going to text back? I'm worried about you. Why don't you come over and we can talk? Jake xxx_

He was _worried_ about me? Since when was he the one overly concerned with my safety? _He_ was the one who introduced me to cliff diving and motorbikes! I was getting irritated now, I huffed and put my phone away. I would talk to him tomorrow, I decided, but for now, I would concentrate on enjoying my day here. I focused back on the mystery bed.

"Who's bed is that over there?" I asked pointing to the bed under the self-contradictory shelf.

"Well, it's meant to be Emmett's but he always sneaks to sleep with Rosalie, so Riley said Tanya could sleep in his caravan, meaning Bree came to sleep in here with me – well not _with _me, that would be really,_ really_ disturbing, I just mean in the caravan, in the bed near mine."

Well that wasn't complicated _at all_. "Why doesn't Tanya just sleep in here?"

Edward shuddered, "Because, A) Riley fancies her, and B) _She_ fancies _me._ It was really weird, Tanya and her parents – Garrett and Kate – joined the circus four years ago. I was twelve and suddenly this ten-year-old is following me everywhere fluttering her eyelashes at me, asking me to do stuff for her then proclaiming me her hero and trying to kiss me once I'd done it! I was traumatised," he smirked at me, "That's why Riley hates my guts."

"I'm sure he doesn't-" I tried to reassure him, he didn't need more people hating him, but he cut me off.

Edward turned to face me and looked me dead in the eye with a straight face, "Oh, believe me, he hates me, he has only two missions in life; to make my life hell, and to get Tanya." his eyes flickered briefly over my shoulder, "Bree, leave Emmett's ball alone." He turned back to the sandwiches he was making.

Seconds later Edward was handing me a plate with my sandwich and handing Bree hers, Edward told Bree she had to sit down to eat then offered both of us some crisps. Edward then made his own sandwich and sat on Emmett/ Bree's bed, facing us. After a few bites of her sandwich, Bree started complaining that she didn't like it, even when Edward assured that it was exactly the same as the one she ate yesterday, and the day before and the day before... you can see where this is going, right? Eventually, Bree said she wanted the same as me.

Edward rolled his eyes and got up to make Bree a ham and cucumber sandwich like mine, we smirked at each other and it was hard not to laugh. Edward returned with Bree's sandwich and set it on her lap, "Your sandwich, as requested, your majesty," Edward sat back to continue eating while I ate my crisps. After a few moments I noticed Bree was only picking at her sandwich. "Should I bring you your normal sandwich Bree?" Edward asked gently.

Bree nodded, looking like she was close to tears, so I tried to comfort her, "Hey, don't cry. Its ok to like different things, it makes life more interesting."

"But I want to be like you Bella, you're really nice and pretty," Bree whined, it was pretty cute actually.

"But we like you just the way you are Bree. Imagine if we had two Bellas, we wouldn't know which one was which!" Edward said as he came back with Bree's sandwich from earlier. Bree smiled happily and started wolfing down her sandwich and at that, we both had to laugh.

After lunch, we stayed in the caravan for a bit playing cards, and I learnt two very important things: Edward was a cheat and Bree was a sore loser. We had been playing for about two hours when Edward suddenly looked at his phone... or at least I _think_ it was a phone. It was a huge box of blue plastic, it was so old the screen was an inch big and one of those green and black square-y things, it was a brick, old enough to have snake _one _on it_._

I gaped at it – unintentionally – until Edward looked up and caught me looking. He quickly shoved his phone back in his pocket, and shifted uncomfortably, his cheeks flushed slightly pink, it was barely noticeable, but I guess I'm just that observant... ok ok, but you just try _not _staring at someone _that_ handsome! Yeah, not so smug now, are we? Anyway, he didn't say anything about it, he just stood up and announced that it was time to walk the dogs.

They had five dogs, all border collies – Edward said this was because they had obedient personalities which made them good for working slash performing. There were three black and white dogs; Mufasa, Baccardi and Andromeda, and three brown and white dogs; Xena and Zorro. After getting the names mixed up about five dozen times, I gave up and concentrated on watching Edward get all the dogs into their collars. I realised then that five border collies was definitely a handful.

I chuckled as one of them – don't fucking ask me which one – jumped up at Edward while he was distracted and started licking his face. As soon as he had gone into the pen of dogs, he had been surrounded! It was funny watching all the dogs jump up and around him, barking for his attention. He even got knocked off his feet once, I was in hysterics! I had completely forgotten about Jacob... until I felt my phone vibrate again in my pocket.

I checked my phone, saw that I did indeed have a text from Jake... and deleted it without even looking at it. I looked up to find Edward looking at me intently, "You can text back, you know. I wouldn't be offended or anything," he said quietly.

I blushed and quickly hid my phone. Of course he would've noticed me getting texts, and how I wasn't answering them, "It's nothing, my friend was just being a jerk yesterday and I'm letting him sweat it out a bit before I forgive him," I assured him, smiling when I saw a soft, knowing smile creep onto his face.

Soon enough, all the dogs were on their leads and Edward was offering to let me hold one while we walked, I hesitantly took the lead off him and found that Andromeda – the dog that I was holding – was, by far, the gentlest of the pack. I giggled quietly whenever Edward had to dig his heels in to stop himself from being dragged along and whenever he had to disentangle himself – while muttering and cursing – from the knot of leashes he was holding.

We walked down an old, disused path for a few minutes until we come to a meadow. I stood for a moment in awe of the breathtaking sight before me, then five border collies exploded onto the scene barking excitedly and jumping and running around. Then suddenly, a tennis ball arced across the sky, a tail of overjoyed dogs shooting behind on the ground.

Then Edward turned to look at me and once again, my breath was stolen. The smile adorning his face, the pure joy lighting up his eyes, his rich laugh rang in my ears and I think I heard the true voice of happiness then. I wanted to be a part of it, but I wasn't sure how. I hovered awkwardly on the edge of the meadow for only a few seconds before Edward waved to me, "Come on!" he called.

So I smiled and ran to him. We spent about half an hour playing with the dogs and I was out of breath by the end of it, but I had also never been more giddy with happiness or felt as if I could fly. By the time we got back to the circus, my cheeks were starting to ache. But it was getting late and if I stayed much longer I wouldn't be able to get dinner finished in time, so I reluctantly turned to Edward to thank him for a wonderful day and explained that I needed to cook dinner for Charlie. Why do things _this good_ never last?

"Sure, umm... maybe I'll see you around?" Edward sounded uncertain.

"Yeah, how long are you in Forks for?" I asked, wanting to know how much time I had with him.

"We're leaving in three weeks," he said solemnly.

"Ok, maybe I'll come visit you tomorrow after school?"

"I'd like that, but don't people usually have homework if they go to school? I wouldn't want you to ditch your homework just for me."

"No problem, I'll just do it after I have dinner," I smiled at him, glad that he put up no argument after that, he only grinned and told me he would look forward to seeing me tomorrow.

I waved at Edward as I got in my truck, smiling as he waved back. On the drive home I turned my thoughts to what I was going to make for dinner. Oh, and I still had that maths homework to finish before tomorrow... oh well, like I said to Edward earlier, I could do it after I had eaten.

I got home and was thankful to see that Charlie was still out fishing. Of course he would be, why had I expected anything different? One day of fun and excitement wouldn't have changed my life forever... even though I was starting to wish it had. I got out the ingredients for lasagne – a meal I had made many times – and started mechanically chopping. The lasagne was ready almost on time for Charlie arriving home from fishing, and I served it up and we ate in almost silence. Same old, same old.

Then there was a knock on the door. Since I was in the kitchen and Charlie was in the living room, I went to get the door. It was Jacob, and he was glaring angrily at me, "So you finally decide to answer me for once."

"Well, after the vile things you said yesterday, I was reluctant to answer in case more of the same came out," I hissed back while stepping outside to prevent Charlie from hearing what would certainly become an explosive conversation.

"Vile? Is this about that dork you were talking to at the circus yesterday!" he asked accusingly.

"He is _not_ a dork!"

"Idiot, jerk, _tramp_, take your pick!"

I stood there dazed for a moment, "Oh my god... I cant actually believe you just said that. You don't even know him! How can you judge him?"

"I don't need to! The fucker is driving a wedge between us! We've been friends forever Bella! Are you just gonna throw that away for a freaking _gypsy_?"

"The only person driving a wedge between us is _you_ Jake, you don't even know him! All you see is someone inferior to you because he has less money, _you_ don't have an awful lot of money Jacob but _I _never look down on _you!_"

Jacob stood there speechless for a moment, until his fury reignited, a little less impressive this time, "But that's not fair! He's obviously trying to steal you away from me, he probably does that in every town the pikeys stay in!"

"You do _not_ own me Jacob Black." I snarled at him, "I'm not some fucking china doll to be fought over! Edward has nothing to do with the fact that I don't want to go out with you! I've known you too long to see you as anything more than a brother, I still see you as the little kid who made mud pies with me in the rain... At least I did until you started acting so cruel and jealous and vindictive."

Jake opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, looking like a fish out of water, before finally finding his voice. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm really sorry Bella, I wasn't thinking, you had just rejected me and I guess I was just being really over-sensitive," he said as he dropped his head in what had better be shame and remorse.

"Hmmm," I said sternly, and he looked up at me with the expression that broke me every time, "Fine! I forgive you! Even though its not really me you should be apologising to." then an idea struck me, what if Jake got to know Edward? Then maybe he would play nice if he saw how great Edward was, "Why don't you come with me to see him at some point? Like Tuesday or Wednesday or something?"

Jake hesitated for a few moments, until he agreed, somewhat apprehensively. Why? Its not like I would ever _tell_ Edward what Jake said, I wasn't a gossip and I could never bring myself to say those kinds of things to someone, especially someone as sweet as Edward, even if those words came from someone else.

I told Jacob goodnight and that I would call him later, I would speak to Edward first before just inviting Jake along, what if Jacob says something like what he did last night? I chewed my thumb as I contemplated everything that could go wrong – it was a scarily long list. And each item on said list would lead to knocking Edward's confidence even further, it took Edward until mid afternoon to become comfortable around me. _What had I just gotten myself into?

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**A/N_ - _**ok, ok i would like just a _little_ more appreciation for this chappy... 1 review isn't all that encouraging... So, about 4 or 5 reviews at least for the next chapter_... _or you could leave more, that would be fine too! =]_  
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	3. Jerk!

**Chapter 3 - Jerk!  
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**Edward's pov**

It was Monday. I had to remind myself that Monday meant school for everyone else. Having practically no daily schedule sure made it harder to remember what day of the week it was. Even so, nobody should be up at twenty to six, no matter what day it was. I groaned, "Bree, why are you up so early? You _do_ know that being up before the sun is a crime, don't you?"

Bree ignored my grumbling, she knew I wasn't a morning person, "I'm _bored_ Edward, play with me," she commanded.

"Don't you want to even eat breakfast first?" I asked.

"No! Stop being boring Edward! You're nearly as bad as Riley when you wake up!" she whined in my ear, while at the last comment I jerked my quilt off my head and glared at her from my pillow.

"You did not just say that," I said in a dangerously calm voice, Bree knew she was in trouble now. She started backing away from me as I menacingly rose up off my bed. Eventually I launched myself after her and chased her until I caught her, then proceeded to tickle her until she managed to squeal out that I would never even come close to being like Riley. _That's better._

After going through that, I collapsed back on my bed, but Bree had other ideas, "Come on! You still have to play with me!"

"What!" I cried in disbelief, "I just ran around after you and tickled you for ten minutes, how can you still have the energy to play? Let alone get me to play with you!"

"Come _on_ Edward!" she complained as she grabbed my arm and tried to pull me out of bed.

"Fine, fine." I acquiesced, "But lets get some breakfast first, huh? I'm on animal duty today, then Laurent wants to teach me this new piece on the piano, Claire De Lune I think it's called, so I can't play with you for too long."

After an hour of keeping Bree entertained I dropped her off at her parent's caravan and went to see how messy the horses were, I swear they always knew which day I was grooming them, and they decided to make it that extra bit harder for me. _Go horses! _At least Midnight liked me... and Stardust was warming up to me.

When I got there the stables were absolutely filthy, it was like they hadn't been cleaned in a week! There was no way all that mess came from just one day. Who the hell was meant to be cleaning it the day before? I growled in frustration and got to work quickly, the horses must have been uncomfortable like that. It took me until lunch time, but eventually I got the horses clean and groomed before going to fix myself something to eat, I was _starving!_

I quickly made a jam sandwich and ate it as I was walking over to the green tent, where the piano was. Laurent and Irina were the oldest people here... not that they were _really_ old or anything, they were in their mid fifties. But Laurent was from France and loved the country a hell of a lot... and I was the only one who didn't have the heart to turn him down when he would get started on his home country...

So that was how I became semi-fluent in French and knew how to play the piano – although I did really enjoy playing, I just had a passion for music. Mind you, I didn't have the heart to turn anyone down when it came to learning, everyone seemed so excited when you took an interest in what they did or loved or found interesting – and I liked learning most of it.

My afternoon piano session flew by and it went ok, could've been better, but I was tired and still a little pissed about the state of the horses this morning – I got my passion for animals from my mum – so my focus wasn't entirely there. I looked at the time and jumped up, realising that I had to walk the dogs – I don't know how I got roped into doing it everyday this week, something to do with Riley and Jane.

Although, as I emerged from the tent I heard the now familiar rumbling of a certain red Chevy pulling into the field. I still couldn't believe she didn't immediately hate me when she found out I was a circus freak... a street rat. She was the kindest, prettiest person I had ever met – and I'd met a lot of people.

Arriving at the pen where the dogs were kept, I decided to clean up first before filling up the water bowl and getting some more food for them. Then I quickly – as possible – rounded the dogs up and took them on a quick walk, I decided to keep it quick today because I absolutely reeked of animal and was really sweaty, plus the dogs had had a long walk yesterday with Bella...

Speaking of; she was there waiting for me when I got back. Oh, _fuck my life_. Every time she's been here, something really embarrassing has happened! Saturday, she saw me get pelted with wet sponges in our stocks. Sunday, when she got here, I was washing that arsehole's car; he was livid when Bree had got a bit of mud on it and started screaming at her so I immediately stepped in and told him to bring it back early Saturday morning and I would wash it. This could've been passed off as not so bad, but when I went to fetch water from the tap in the next field, some other bastards were there and fucking chucked water over me and stole my hat... I didn't put up much of a fight because A) I'm not the type, B) I don't know how and C) there were three of them.

And now I smelt of horse and dog shit. And fucking BO probably. As I emerged from the trees, she smiled and waved at me before jumping off the bonnet of her car and walking over to me. _If I kept the dogs between us, maybe she wont notice how badly I stink and think it was the dogs instead?_ Well, it was worth a try. Slightly flustered, I moved the dogs surreptitiously to stand between us as she approached, and to my relief, my plan worked. Now, could I put the dogs away and excuse myself to shower without making a fool of myself... eh, it's a 50/50 shot.

I managed to make it through putting the dogs away and hopped in the shower to finally relax under the weak spray. I quickly washed myself, scrubbing until I was sure all the stench had been washed down the drain. She didn't say anything but that wasn't a good enough indication of whether she actually smelt anything – polite people generally tend to politely ignore that kind of stuff.

I stepped out the shower and dried myself off before realising that my embarrassment wasn't over yet. I hadn't brought my clothes in here with me, and now Bella was sat, making herself at home – like I insisted – in the next room... where my clothes were. _Fuck my life!_ I made sure the towel was wrapped securely around my waist – and then held it in place for good measure – and hesitantly knocked _on my own bathroom door_ before slowly opening it a crack. I stepped halfway into the room – by this point I could feel myself blushing furiously – and cleared my throat.

"Err... Bella?" I called in a pathetically weak voice. As she turned her head to look at me, I noticed her eyes travel up and down me before proceeding to stare at me like I was a freak... which I suppose I was. "Could you... uh. Could you just wait outside for a couple of minutes please? I, um... I kinda left my clothes in here."

"Sure," she said in an overly squeaky voice and hurried out the door. Oh god, I probably freaked her out completely. As soon as the door slammed shut, I whirled around and began digging in my drawers for something, _anything _to wear...

I found nothing. After a brief moment of wondering, I remembered that Jane was on laundry duty this week. I groaned, _that explains it! _Jane hated me. She liked Riley and since he likes Tanya and hated me, Jane hated us both. _Fucking brilliant!_ I sighed and dove into Emmett's drawers hoping for two things: the first, to come back alive; and the second, to find something to wear.

I had never before realised how absolutely fucking _huge_ Emmett was. He wasn't too much taller than me so I only had to roll the jeans up once, but the top I went to put on... well, I was fucking _swimming_ in it! I had always felt exceptionally scrawny next to Emmett and now I felt that way too keenly, I looked like an eight year old! At least the length would hide the belt that was scrunching up the top of Emmett's jeans so they didn't fall down.

I found one of my hoodies that wasn't in the wash then stepped outside to join Bella. She was sat on the step, with her head propped up by her hands, but she looked up when she heard the door open, her eyes widened as they took in my appearance, and I sighed, this day was certainly turning into a disaster.

Bella only had a couple of hours before she had to go home and cook dinner, so we went and spent some time with the horses, I let time slip away from me and before I knew it, Bella was declaring that she had to go home. But she had asked if it was ok if she brought a friend with her the next day, because _it was so cool here._ Yeah, I bet there aren't many horses around here normally.

Tuesday, I got roped into helping with some costumes. All I can say is: _thank god Esme was there! _Not that I didn't like Alice, I loved her like she was my favourite aunt or something, but hyper Alice was just better handled in either small doses or with a buffer there. And Alice was definitely excited.

Alice had designed both Jasper and Tanya a new costume and there were a few repairs to make to some of the other costumes. I was sorely tempted to sew a pink patch over the hole in Riley's costume, but then realised that Alice would have my head, and it just wasn't worth it. So, I spent most of the day sat in the corner making repairs to costumes and only half listening to Alice and Esme's conversation as I slouched to hide behind my work.

This time I was just about to take the dogs out when I heard Bella's truck. I looked up and waved cheerily at her... and then I saw who she was sat next to. _She was friends with that arsehole? _How? Or was this some kind of opposites attract thingy? You know, good attracting evil and that kind of thing? I'm ashamed to say I panicked, I had no idea how I could get out of this, especially since I'd agreed to this.

I just didn't know it would be the bastard that made me wash his fucking car!

I froze up, Bella was probably wondering what the hell was going on with me, as I was pretty sure my behaviour could be interpreted as being slightly rude. And then, I had to lead the prick to the toilet. That meant I would be on my own with him. _Fuck my life! _Again, there was no way out of it.

As soon as we turned the corner and was out of sight of Bella, _Jacob_ grabbed my arm and pushed me a bit further away, just to make sure Bella wouldn't be able to hear us before pushing me up against the wall of a caravan, fisting my t-shirt in his humongous fists. "Listen, you're going to keep that little favour you did for me on the quiet, aren't you?"

I just nodded like the total pansy I was, the only thing worse than this would be if Riley were watching.

"You see Bella, for some reason, doesn't see you for the tramp you really are. You're blessed that my girl actually talks to you, and that is the sole reason I'm not beating you to a pulp right now, and if you want to stay in one piece, you won't mention anything like that to her, is that clear?"

However, in a strange moment of bravery – or stupidity, depending on how you look at it – instead of nodding, I decided to say, "you know, you wouldn't have to go through all this hassle if you just _be_ the person you're pretending to be for her."

Then Jacob slammed me forcefully into the caravan and kneed me in the stomach, fortunately, I had just enough time to tense before impact, but I was still pretty sure there would be a bruise there tomorrow...

**Bella's pov**

Tuesday was terrible; although Mike had finally backed off – meaning Jess was much more genuinely friendly – Tyler and Eric were... _enthusiastic_ about this new development to say the least.

It took all of first period for Tyler to find me and ask me out on a date, I couldn't believe the cockiness in his voice! It was like he was convinced I would be absolutely_ thrilled_ when he asked me and fall to me knees and worship him out of gratitude... yeah, not in a million years, mate. If Mike was a needy puppy, Tyler thought he was god's gift to women... then greasy Eric decided to enter the ridiculousness that is my life... or love-life or whatever. Not that the condition of his skin and hair was a deal breaker... he was just slimy in general.

Eww.

It was at lunch when Eric cornered me, he said that since I had turned Tyler down, he knew I was free... Ok, points go to whoever can see what was wrong with that: Firstly, he said that Tyler asked me out in front of Lauren! was he _trying_ to sentence me to death? Secondly, who the hell said I was free? Is it _that_ obvious I don't have a life? For all he knows I could've been doing _anything_ then, it's not _entirely_ unheard of for me to have plans... _entirely!_

In the aftermath, I noticed two things; that Tyler was glaring at Eric, and that Lauren was glaring at me. _Jesus_. Whoever said high school was the prime of your life was _sorely_ mistaken! It was obvious that Jessica was going to have to pick a side – Lauren would make sure of that – and I had no idea who she was going to pick. On the one side, they had the power to make my life hell in high school, on the other, I wasn't so sure I wanted such a superficial friend.

How the hell was I going to resolve this? Tyler wasn't the type to take no for an answer, so the only way to deter him would be to get myself a boyfriend... which leaves Eric. Other than the fact that I don't really like him in that way, going out with him just to get Tyler off my back would be wrong. And I couldn't ask Jacob after I had rejected him so badly, even if it was to only pretend we were dating.

Walking to biology after lunch, I heard Lauren ranting to Jess, "I can't believe _Tyler_ asked _Bella_ out! What's so special about _her?_ I mean, she's not even that pretty! And all she does is sit there and read or blush!"

"I know! And I cant believe Mike asked her out as well either! And she never says yes to _anyone_... do you think she's a lesbian?" Jessica replied.

"Fucked if I care! I just don't get why everyone's asking _her_ out!" Lauren practically screeched back. After another short pause, she spoke again, "But if she's a lesbian, no one will ask her out any more will they?" I saw an evil smirk creep onto her face.

I threw my hand over my mouth to keep the giggles in, were they really _that_ desperate for some male attention? I _did_ kinda feel sorry for them, but I had a feeling my sympathy would run out pretty soon at the rate they were going. However, they seemed to have struck gold as far as declaring myself unavailable went, hmm, this could work... Bella the lesbian... Eh, it will serve my purpose.

Biology had an odd number of people in it. So guess who was the loner... and our survey says: ding ding ding ding! Me! Top answer! Fucking _joy_. Oh well, just one more hour to go until I can get out of here...

I looked at Edward and felt a smile spread across my face, he was walking the dogs! He looked up at me and smiled too, he waved cheerily and I parked my truck near the edge of the field again. Me and Jake got out but suddenly Edward wasn't smiling any more. He looked like he did on Sunday when I first came to visit him, was he like that with all new people? I wondered why he was like that, he definitely didn't seem this shy when he was helping me with my shopping or my truck. Although, yesterday was pretty close, if you added a blush then it would be the same, maybe there was some lingering awkwardness only ramped up by the new guest.

I shook the thought off and continued towards Edward, "Edward this is my friend Jake, Jake this is Edward," I introduced them.

Jake smiled and and gripped Edward's hand forcefully, "Wow! What a place you have here, this is so cool! I bet you don't even have to go to school, that must be awesome not having any homework, not having to know anything..."

Edward scowled and reluctantly shook hands with Jake. I admit Jake was acting a bit peculiar, for all his complaining and panic and... _distaste _earlier he was exuding an odd amount of enthusiasm now. But then again, Edward's reluctance and discomfort was a lot more pronounced than normal, even for a really shy person.

Edward's posture remained rigid as me and Jake bent down to stroke the dogs, I saw the familiar hunching of his shoulders and how he kept his arms tight to his sides. I wondered why Edward was being so defensive and skittish. Jake said something he thought was funny, then laughed and clapped Edward on the shoulder with a resounding _thwack_. Edward's scowl deepened as his shoulder was jerked forward and I winced for him. I had been on the receiving end of Jake's enthusiasm a few times – all had been painful and all had ended with me on the floor. Finally, someone who could hold their own against Jake! It had been scary to watch him fill out so fast...

Then it clicked. I looked at Jake and and tried to distance myself from the cheeky but adorable kid I knew. I suppose he _did_ look a bit intimidating – maybe even a little threatening. The realisation shocked me and I sat there gaping at Jake. After god knows how long, I noticed Edward looking at me, his head tilted to one side in askance. I snapped out of my stupor and shook my head and stood up.

I took Andromeda – or Andy – again while Jake got Zorro. "Hey, before we get going, I need to take a leak," he turned to Edward slapping casually on his chest, Edward remained stoic, "Dude, this circus is like a maze, you wanna show me the way?"

Edward reluctantly nodded and led him to the toilets. I hoped Edward would get over his aversion to Jake, he was a nice guy once you got past his size and his unconscious strength. I waited for them to return, thinking how, if Jake got to know Edward, his opinion of him would change, Edward was a nice guy too – a lot like Jake, but gentler... and he actually listened. Maybe Jake could take a leaf out of Edward's book.

Why had Jake suddenly acted so different? He was rude on Saturday, unapologetic on Sunday, and anxious not to come today. Don't get me wrong, I wanted Jake to warm up to the circus and the people in it, but his behaviour seemed more than a little suspicious. Jake had a plan... and I wasn't sure I would like it. I just didn't get what his problem was, ever since we actually _went_ to the circus and I ran into Edward...

Oh my god. Jake was jealous. _Jake_ was jealous. Jake was _jealous..._ Wow. I never thought I'd see the day... _ha!_ Then I felt bad, he _obviously_ liked me and here I was, introducing him to another male friend who I liked as much as him. That had never happened before. He felt threatened.

Hmm, I could work this to my advantage, I could finally get Jake to tone the teasing down a bit... or a lot. It's not like I don't have a sense of humour, I can laugh at myself if I trip or do something stupid, but I do resent being constantly ribbed about being short and being awful at mechanics... and having some common sense. Jake was fun; he wasn't a horrible person or anything, but he got tiresome after a while.

I tried to wait patiently for them to come back, how far away was this toilet anyway? I huffed and continued stroking Andromeda, this black and white dog was quickly becoming my favourite. Eventually, Jake came striding around the corner with a shit-eating grin on his face while Edward trailed behind, his scowl even deeper and and his body hunched even more. I wondered if Jake had made a smart comment, I wouldn't put it past him. Maybe I should've told him to behave before we got here. Jake picked up Zorro's lead and then we started off on the same route as last time.

The walk was nice, we kept the conversation generic and I managed to coax Edward into adding his own comments. Jake, inevitably steered the conversation towards cars and mechanics – his one true love – and I prepared for a long monologue on the inner workings of his new favourite car, but he started on tyres and Edward – miracle of miracles – made a suggestion, without any prompting!

Unfortunately, the dogs saw a rabbit leap across the path and decided it would be a good idea to chase it – seriously, do dogs have _no_ common sense _at all_? Edward, as soon as he saw the rabbit, braced himself and managed to not land completely in the mud... although he did stagger forwards a few steps and fell to his knees. I just about managed to keep upright with Andromeda, but Jake was caught unawares and was yanked forward so hard he tripped and face-planted into the mud... this was going to be pretty. Jake just happened to be wearing his favourite – and most expensive – t-shirt! Last time he got a bit of grease on it, he made me wash it relentlessly until the stain was finally out. He got that way about his car and bike too.

Then I noticed that he'd let go of the dog he was supposed to be holding and now Zorro was disappearing off into the woods – which definitely _didn't_ help with the whole getting the dogs under control thing. I stared after the dog in shock – again my mind decided that _now_ would be a good time for a tea break – while Edward – who's brain _didn't_ abandon him in times of great need – hooked the dogs' leashes around a low branch nearby then launched into the forest after the escapist, calling out "Watch the dogs please!" as he went.

My mind slowly started functioning again then I grabbed the other leads to secure them better and sat on a nearby tree stump, because A) I had a feeling I would be here for a while, B) if I was sitting down I couldn't fall over so easily if the gods got excited again and C) I'd rather not be standing in Jake's way once he gets into his tirade about his dirty t-shirt.

True to form, Jake did get unreasonably angry about his t-shirt. I, admittedly half-heartedly, tried to calm him down and console him some, but he wasn't having any of it. So, to save my own sanity, I blanked out most of what he was saying and chose to find his pacing and stomping amusing. And in all honesty, I think Jake forgot I was there... because I was just _that_ invisible. So then I ignored Jake just as thoroughly as he was ignoring me and wondered if I should get the Cornish pasties out the fridge for tea tonight, obviously with a few carrots and peas, maybe some sweetcorn as well?

It took less time than I thought it would for Edward to catch Zorro and bring him back, "Sorry I just left you like that with all the dogs, but I just didn't know what else to do," he said panting slightly as he rejoined us on the path. Unfortunately, his speed in catching Zorro meant Jake hadn't yet calmed down enough to be civil.

Jake rounded on Edward, "Sorry! You're _sorry_! Well, sorry just doesn't cut it! Look what that mutt did! This t-shirt cost more than your life! It's gonna be fucking ruined! And how are you gonna pay for it! Huh! You could sell every pathetic little thing you own and it still wouldn't cover half of it!"

I stared slack-jawed at Jake, not wanting to believe he had said half of the things he just did. I was genuinely astonished he would go that far! How could he have the audacity to say those things straight to his face! Edward simply stood back and glared at the floor.

"I have half a mind to make you clean this yourself! And get that flea bag put down! It's a fucking menace! And you're no fucking better! Fucking _tramp_! You just ruin everything, stupid piece of shit!" Jake continued to shout at the side of Edward's head, before shoving past Edward and stomping back down the path.

Edward silently took the leads I was holding, not making any eye contact whatsoever and stood over me for a moment, "Your friend's going to need a lift back." he said quietly while inspecting the leads in his hands.

I tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder but he stepped back subtly, "I'm really sorry Edward, I honestly don't know what has gotten into him..." I attempted to apologise but Edward shook his head.

"I'm not mad at you, just... go and make sure he doesn't end up tearing the place apart." Edward gave me a half-hearted shrug and turned down the path leading to the meadow.

I stared after him for a short moment before turning back to give Jake a piece of my mind. I stormed down the path and to my truck, pointedly ignoring Jake as he got in the passenger seat, "I cant believe you just did that, Jake!" I spat icily.

"He had it coming to him," Jake mumbled, but I heard anyway.

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Why cant you see what he doing to us? He's a manipulative bastard, they all are! He's stealing you away from me!"

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? Edward hasn't done anything of the sort!"

"Fine! Defend the _boyfriend_!"

"Edward isn't my boyfriend and no-one is doing any stealing! Jake, I just don't think of you that way! Get that into your thick skull and stop acting like a jealous, petulant child before you do something you regret!"

Jake huffed and crossed his arms angrily, further proving my petulant child theory. The rest of the journey was silent; Jake because he had probably run out of arguments; and me, because I was afraid of what I would say if I opened my mouth. I tended to get a little carried away with what I said when I was wound up – and I was unbelievably wound up right now, I shuddered to imagine what I would say, not that it would come close to the carnage Jake just unleashed. Seriously, worse than the atomic bomb. I pulled up to Jake's house and sat staring out the wind-shield as I waited for him to get out, he did so in silence and as soon as he was out, I reversed out his drive and went home.

"Hey Bells, how was Jake?" Charlie asked me cheerfully as I came through the door.

"Ugh! Do _not_ speak to me about _that_ little slime ball," I said as I went to dump my bag in my room.

"What happened?" Charlie asked as I came back down the stairs and started making dinner

"He's acting like a jealous child! He asked me out on Saturday, but I said no, so the next male friend he sees me with, he jumps down their throat! We were just walking his dogs then Jake gets a bit of mud on his favourite t-shirt so he say, quote 'you could sell every pathetic little thing you own and it still wouldn't cover half the cost'! He was completely out of order!" I didn't mention that Edward was in the circus, what with Charlie's prejudice and all.


	4. The bear and the circus

**Chapter 4 – the bear, the bitch and the circus**

I decided to go with the Cornish pasties for dinner in the end – just in case you were wondering – and they seemed to sit heavily in my stomach as I lay on my bed, trying to get to sleep. Charlie had grunted after my little speech earlier in the evening and had said, "I get why you're angry Bells, and he shouldn't have done that, but maybe he just needed a little space before you started introducing him to other... _male_ friends of yours?"

"I know dad. It's just he's a really nice guy and I thought that maybe, if it wasn't just the two of us all the time, he wouldn't get the wrong idea so much, and he already feels like I'm ditching him," I sighed at the vegetables I was chopping. _Why was my life so difficult?_

"I know it's a difficult situation honey, just remember; don't go looking for money in a guy, but you have to make sure he can take care of you, Bella."

I groaned, "Ugh, he is _not_ my boyfriend!" _Why_ couldn't anyone accept that?

I was still in shock over Jake's outburst and – oh my god what if Edward hated me now? I had asked him if I could bring my friend with me and my _friend_ had turned out to be a complete jerk to him! Would he think _I_ was a jerk too? Guilty by association. Oh god. This was not good. I was going to kill Jacob, I mean literally _kill_ him!

I huffed and stared at the ceiling as tried to get to sleep... this was _so_ not working. _Tomorrow, I am going to march straight over there and apologise_, I thought determinedly as I was finally drifting off to sleep.

If Tuesday had been terrible, Wednesday was even worse. I was anxious all day as to how Edward would react to me turning up again. Plus, there were whispers. Thankfully, there were only a few, but I had to remind myself that that was what I wanted... And I just _know_ I failed the history test we had right before lunch. This whole week was turning out to be a... I _would _say nightmare _if_ I discounted Monday evening. That was the highlight of my week_. Go me!_

We had spent a lot of time around the horses – it was awesome! But I desperately wanted to ride one, even if it was only being led around a field by Edward or someone. I didn't want to consider that Edward might not want me around after yesterday. This was not only a childhood dream that would dance out of my reach, but also a good friend. We weren't too close yet, but I really enjoyed spending time with him, and I could tell we could be really close, with time.

By the end of the day, I had reached the end of my tether – I mean seriously, _why_ does fidgeting all through lesson necessitate a ten minute 'chat' at the end of school? It's not like I was even being disruptive! I decided to go straight home then, to save myself more disappointment. When I got home, I collapsed on my bed, fervently wishing I'd never left it. I groaned into my pillow and rolled over, trying to get comfortable. I was dog tired and my lack of sleep the night before was most certainly catching up with me...

Which is why I woke up three hours later, slightly disorientated.

I looked at the time and immediately sprang out out of bed, I had to get dinner on. Five points goes to whoever guesses what the only meat left in the house was – that's right, fish. My patience was wearing thin in the food department. How does Charlie not get tired of fish? Or even fishing? We had some of Harry Clearwater's fish fry so I did that and some chips and salad – I really needed to find some more fish recipes – but oh, wait! My computer is from the 1950s and the letter 'e' no longer works on the keyboard. Fun times.

Wednesday was a... well, it was one of those days where I couldn't be bothered to put a lot of effort in, so I ended up with not a lot as a result. I moved apathetically through Spanish, maths and geography before lunch, and at lunch, I sat quietly on the edge of my friendship group and had a nice conversation with Angela. She was a nice girl that I had somehow overlooked since we had been at this school.

I ended up telling Angela – _roughly_ – about my slight dilemma. I told her that I had a friend and I had brought Jake round to meet him, but then Jake blew up in his face. I confessed my fear of rejection to her, which she assured me was unfounded and unnecessary. Then, instead of lingering on the subject she switched to wondering what the English test was going to be like. I speculated with her, thankful that I knew _Wuthering heights_ inside out. For some reason, I felt that I couldn't tell anyone about Edward or about him being in the circus, not that I was ashamed or anything, but I knew Charlie wasn't the only one in town with a prejudice against outsiders, especially _poor_ outsiders.

That evening, I used the courage that Angela had given me at lunch and drove straight over to the circus to see Edward. As I go out of my truck, I was startled to see a woman of about twenty standing behind me and smiling welcomingly. My eyes quickly wondered over her lithe stature and dark, spiky hair before she stuck her hand out exuberantly.

"Hi," I said, trying to follow at least _some_ convention for meeting and greeting.

"You know, you could've come over yesterday, we don't bite, especially not Edward." She screwed up her nose in thought, "He's too gentle for his own good."

"Ok?" I said, uncertainly.

She looked me up and down, then smiled and nodded to herself before saying a cheery goodbye and waving as she abruptly turned and walked away.

I shrugged to myself and wandered further into their camp when I heard annoyed voices drifting my way. "No! She's not like that! She wouldn't..." Edward sighed in defeat, "Why don't you go ask Alice if you're so concerned?"

"You know, Ed, if you're feeling like that, then I won't say any more... apart from that my door's always open if you ever wanna beef up a little extra!" I heard the sound of a scuffle and rounded the corner to see Edward on the back of... a bear.

Edward had the bear in a sort of ineffective headlock while attempting to give him a noogie while the bear was thrashing around and trying to get Edward off his back. I hesitated by the shelter of a caravan wall and watched as the fight played out. Suddenly the bear slammed his back – and the sharper of you will notice that that means he slammed Edward as well – into the wall of the caravan I was hiding behind.

"Damn Em, you didn't have to use _all _your strength," Edward said as he sunk down to the ground.

"Seriously, about the beefing up thing..."

Edward shook his head smiling slightly, "I'll make sure to give you a call," he said before his eyes found mine and his expression went blank with shock.

"Err... hi," I said – note my superior eloquence.

Edward frowned in confusion – was 'hi' not generally accepted as a polite form of greeting? "Hi," he said back, seemingly dazed.

"Ooohh," the bear said, snickering and rubbing his hands together, his face was a picture of excitement, "This should be _good_."

Startled out of his daze, Edward turned to frown at the bear before getting up and asking me to follow him. We went to his caravan and he offered me a drink which I declined but he still looked shifty and nervous. "So, you decided to come back?" he asked – was me not sitting here clarification enough for him?

I nodded in the affirmative but Edward didn't relax, I narrowed my eyes at him, "Is something wrong? Is there something you're not telling me?" I asked suspiciously.

Edward turned defensive, "No. I'm just glad you came back that's all," he hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"You thought I didn't want to come back?" I gasped, incredulously – and a little accusingly, "Honestly, if I hadn't had such a shit day yesterday and then fell asleep, I would've come over yesterday." I assured him, but he continued to look doubtful, "You know I don't think like Jake, right?"

Edward shrugged, "He's not the only who thinks that, Bella. There are very few people outside of the circus who think that we're actually worth something," he said despondently as he sat down on his bed. I didn't know what to say to that so I huffed and sat down next to him.

After a long pause, I turned to Edward to find him leaning back and staring thoughtfully through the skylight in the middle of the ceiling at the sky which was a strange shade of blue – _gasp! It was a clear sky!_ "What are you thinking?" I asked curiously as I stared at his upturned jaw.

"I was wondering how you would describe the colour blue to a blind man," he said absently.

"What? Where did that come from?"

"Well, I was looking at the sky and just thinking about how nice and deep and clear the sky was, just trying to describe it in my head, really. Then I thought about how description is based on experience and comparison, so, how would you describe the colour blue – or any colour for that matter – to someone with no experience of colours? Thus, how do you describe the colour blue to a blind man?" Edward looked at me apprehensively and expectantly as if he was waiting for me to say something to that.

"You _do_ know I have no idea, right? You'd probably have to ask a blind man or someone who lives with one."

Edward grinned like I'd just made his day, "Wow. I guess you really _did_ want to come back then, since you're not looking at me like I'm something unpleasant that you stepped on."

"...huh?"

"Um, well... a few people have, um... hung out with me because of my ermm... _looks_," he said that bit with equal parts distaste and disbelief, "and they kind expected me to have a personality to match the, um... 'dumb jock' stereotype, and then when I didn't deliver and started spouting random crap like that, well..." he shrugged, not even bothering to put the result into words, it was just _that_ obvious what small minded teenagers would be like.

"Yeah, well... just don't listen to Jake, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Edward's face visibly darkened at the mention of Jake's name and his eyes almost turned hateful. I know Jake was... _evil_ to him when they met the other day, but I thought his reaction was a little extreme... Then I had a ghastly idea, "Tell me." I commanded.

"Tell you what?" Edward asked warily.

"Tell me whatever Jake said or did when you two were alone on Tuesday."

Edward's head swivelled to look at me, both shock and panic swimming in his wide emerald eyes. "Who told you about that?" he demanded while his ears turned pink. _Ahh, so something _did_ happen then. _I cocked an eyebrow, waiting for him to realise his mistake.

His eyes widened even more, then he shook his head violently, "Uh... no. I cant tell you." He tried to sound firm but the panic was evident as he backed away from me. I frowned, _how am I going to get him to talk? _I was determined to find out what it was – the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' couldn't deter me. I looked at him on the bed next to me, almost pinned to the wall. There was no room for escape, so I tried the one thing that never failed.

Edward yelped as wriggling fingers made contact with his sides. One thing I learned was that he was _seriously_ ticklish. It was only a moment later that Edward, wildly kicking and flinging, with a flushed face and gasping for breath, conceded my victory, swearing he would tell me whatever I wanted to know.

"So... what happened with you and Jake?" I asked as Edward caught his breath.

He sighed and sat up straight before running his hand through his hair and leaning his elbows on his knees. He stared at the floor while I stared at his hunched shoulders as he recounted what happened. Not once did he look at me and by his tone, he was embarrassed as hell about it, but all I could think about was how absolutely _livid_ I was at Jake.

I fisted my hands and ground my teeth together, unable to do anything else. I sat quietly seething for a while, until Edward got a little nervous about my lack of response. He turned around and met my angry eyes. His widened and he got sort of a look of horror on his face, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or Jacob or anything, and I definitely didn't mean to drive a wedge between you two..."

I snapped out of my anger-induced trance and took in his stance of surrender. "Oh, don't worry, Jake managed to drive a wedge between us all by himself," I spat.

"Please. Don't start anything, please," he begged.

I didn't answer him, there was _no way_ I was going to let this one slide. Edward was about to start begging again when there was a knock on the door. Edward looked between me and the door for a few seconds before going to answer it, while I tried my hardest to calm down. I looked up and saw that it was the woman from earlier at the door.

"You need some clothes that actually fit you," she said to Edward.

He rolled his eyes before replying dryly, "No shit, Alice."

She crossed her arms, "No need to get snarky with me, mister,"

"Well you _were_ stating the obvious," he stepped back to allow Alice in, "Oh, Alice this is Bella, Bella this is Alice."

"Hi, again," I said with an awkward little wave.

"Hi!" Alice said as she skipped over and sat down right next to me, on the bed. It was then that I noticed she was carrying three raincoats, she didn't say anything, just left them on the end of the bed. Edward looked at the raincoats, then at the sky, the shrugged and sat down on the opposite bed to me and Alice. "Thanks."

"No problem," Alice replied. After a few moments of awkward silence, Alice suddenly turned to me, "Ugh! Why are you so difficult?"

Bewildered, I turned to see Edward laughing his head off on the other bed while I was still nonplussed as to what was going on. "Oh, Edward?" Alice said as she turned from me to him, "Your mum wants to see you... and go by the stables, unless you want to end up covered in mud."

Edward raised an eyebrow at her before shaking his head and standing up to go out the door. When he got to the door he turned to me and asked if I wanted to come with him but Alice said she wanted to have a chat. Edward frowned at that but continued out the door anyway, only pausing briefly to grab the waterproof that Alice thrust at him and tie it round his waist.

As soon as Edward was out of earshot, Alice turned to me, "Hi Bella! Nice to finally meet you, we're gonna be great friends."

"You too Alice, and I look forward to being friends with you," I replied – I know, I know! I never pretended to be a great conversationalist!

"So... what's your favourite colour? If you say blue I will love you forever!" Alice squealed.

"Err, blue?" I guessed.

"Yay! Blue would suit you so well. Hmmm, with some white trim and just above your knees..." Alice muttered to herself, she jumped up with a look of concentration on her face, "See you Saturday Bella! Oh, and just ignore Rosalie, everyone else does."

And with that, Alice skipped out the door. Then, only a few seconds later, I heard Edward coming... bringing someone else with him. Oh god.

"Rosalie, do we _really_ have to do this, _right now? _Cant it wait? I really don't think Bella is like all those other people," I heard Edward say exasperatedly.

"You know why Edward. And you know why this has to be done early," a stern female voice replied.

"Don't you think you're taking this just a _little_ too far?"

"Edward. Shoo. Go play with Emmett or something."

After a few seconds I heard Edward sigh and walk away, then the person who I guessed was Rosalie came in through the open door. She was a model... or _should_ be a model. She was tall, blonde and slim. She pursed her lips as her eyes roamed over me and I squirmed a little under her scrutiny. She stalked towards me and sat on the bed, eyeing the two raincoats next to her.

"Listen, I'm a bitch and this isn't going to be pleasant, so get over it. You're lucky I'm telling you this now." Suddenly her cold gaze turned fiery, "What do you want with Edward?"

"Err, to be friends?" I didn't do well at confrontations... when I was the one being confronted.

"Why?" she barked, "Why did you chose Edward? Why not Emmett or Riley or me?"

"Because he helped me when I dropped my shopping in the rain?" the pressure was making my voice all squeaky so it sounded like I was asking a question.

"Oh, that's right! Pick on the kind ones! The ones where its more fun to see them humiliated at the end! The ones where its easier to gain their trust and friendship! I bet you don't even know what friendship means!" Rosalie spat at me.

"Hey, now wait a minute!" I protested, starting to get indignant at her accusations.

"And why should I? You're pathetic, you know that? You're not worthy to set foot in this circus!"

"Just stop a minute!"

"So you can break his heart? So you can hurt him? So you can put him down and make him feel worthless just so you can feel better about yourself?" Rosalie flung the questions at me without mercy.

"So I can explain that I'm sick of two-faced friends and Edward was the first genuinely nice guy that I'd met since my dad! I'm not like the others in my school! They think I'm weird but Edward never made me feel like that! He's a good friend!" I shouted enraged back in her face, I wondered if she would yell at me some more for that.

Instead, she smirked, "So my bitchiness hasn't scared you off?" she asked in a much more reasonable tone.

"Nope."

"Welcome to the circus, Bella," Rosalie said, extending her hand out for me to shake. I grinned and shook it – hell yeah! I passed the bitch test! Woop!

We sat down and started chatting for a while – Rosalie was actually pretty cool – before Alice poked her head through the door, wearing an anorak – it had started raining, surprise surprise. "Good, you're done. Bella would you like to have dinner with us?"

"Oh, I should really get back, I have to cook dinner for my dad..." _Was it that late already? _

"Nonsense!" Alice interrupted, "Your dad can survive one evening without a home cooked meal! Oh, and Rosalie, Emmett is getting a little overenthusiastic with the weights again."

"Oh shit! And I told Edward to go play with Emmett!" Rosalie sighed, "I better go rescue him before he collapses."

"How long have we been chatting here anyway?" I asked – _how had it gotten so late?_

"Including the bitch fest, I'd say just over an hour. Time flies when you're having fun, huh?"

I nodded and followed Rosalie and Alice out the door after putting on the raincoat that Rosalie left. I was depressed to see the sky so dark already, if the drop in temperature wasn't enough, the shorter days were definitely a sign that winter was closing in. We walked for only a minute and stopped at a small, black tent, where you could hear voices emanating from. They sounded almost as if they were jeering. Rosalie and Alice rolled their eyes and pulled back the flap to the tent and _holly_...

My train of thought literally stopped there.

Edward was doing chin ups... _Bare-chested!_

I could see the sweat dripping down his back and _oh my god_ did my knees go weak as he struggled to lift himself one more time. I had never really thought of Edward as _sexy_ before - I mean, I knew he was attractive, I wasn't _blind_ – but that oversight had just been rectified. "Come on! Cant even do twenty chin ups?" Riley the creep shouted at him. I frowned as another shouted, "_Go on ya scrawny devil! Maybe one day soon you'll be able to take Emmett!_" I also noticed the bear from earlier was there and said that he had just three more to do.

Edward managed to do one more before his grip on the pole slipped and he fell to the floor. Riley laughed – we had moved to stand just inside the door of the tent now – and Edward turned to him and shot back, "Well, I'd like to see you try twenty chin ups."

The jeering was now aimed at Riley and he looked annoyed as he stepped up to the bar, "How do your arms feel?" he asked.

"Like yours will in a few minutes, like jelly," Edward replied as he moved out the way – no-one had noticed us standing here yet.

Riley didn't even manage to do ten. But I was only half concentrating on him, Edward shook his arms out and had a long drink of water before putting a top back on. Everyone, including me, Alice and Rosalie laughed when Riley fell off – which is what made them notice that we were in there with them. Everyone turned to look at us at the same time – which would be funny if it wasn't _me_ they were looking at.

"Dinners nearly ready and Bella's joining us!" Alice said cheerfully. I glanced around everyone's faces and noticed they were all in shock, with the exception of Edward who seemed equal parts shocked, elated and relieved.

Once we were out of the tent, I called and left a message on the answer-phone that I would be staying round a friend's house for tea. When I got to where we would be eating I realised 'tea' was the wrong word, this was more like a feast! And the table was _huge! _I was told to sit down while Alice and Rosalie went to help bring the drinks through. I sat fidgeting for a bit until people started to congregate around the table.

"You know you're the first outsider ever to eat like this with us," Edward said as he slid into the chair next to me, taking off his waterproof and shoving it under his stool. I smiled, relieved that I had someone to talk to finally and Edward started to fill me in on the people there.

Carlisle and Esme joined the circus when she got pregnant with Emmett, Alice ran away from an orphanage and joined when she was ten and met Jasper in Texas two years ago, he dropped his history course to travel with her. Victoria and James joined six years ago with Riley in Seattle and had Bree a year later, Siobhan and Liam had been in the circus ever since Edward could remember, they had Rosalie who was eighteen and Maggie who was approaching three. Garrett and Kate joined four years ago with Tanya, they had done loads of travelling before and thought the circus would offer more security for Tanya. Aro and Sulpicia had Jane and had been here for longer than Edward, as had Irina and Laurent, while Carmen and Eleazar had joined a few months ago and wanted to put some more acrobatics in the show, since Carmen used to be a gymnast.

All in all, there were twenty-four people and then Emmett the bear. No wonder they had a feast laid out on the table. Edward told me they always got together like this on Thursdays as Friday through to Sunday, they were performing. It was good logic.

I was enjoying myself until Riley sat down the other side of me, I hadn't liked him from the moment he introduced himself on Saturday. He ignored me for a few moments, but as soon as Edward went to go see what Esme wanted, he turned to me and again with the creepy vibes. "So, you with the mop-head over there?"

"What's it to you?" I asked defensively.

"You know, if you wanted to join the circus, you don't have to date _him_," he said lowly in my ear.

"Who says I want to date him because I want join the circus?" more like I would want to join the circus because I was dating him – _duh._

"_Are_ you dating him?" he said with a sly smirk.

"No!" Again with that question! Although, I wouldn't mind...

"Erm, here's your glass," oh shit! I turned just in time to see Edward walking away... again.

People were starting to dig in now and I grabbed at any excuse to keep my mouth shut while Edward was going round pouring drinks. Suddenly Alice was beside me, "What happened?" she asked frantically.

I shifted and glanced uneasily at Riley before Rosalie stepped in, "You. Move."

"Aww, but I'm hungry! I just had a work out!" Riley protested.

"Take your plate. Now move!" Rosalie picked up Riley's plate, shoved it in his hand and pushed him away before sitting down in his newly vacated seat. Then both of them looked at me expectantly.

"Well... Riley was kinda getting on my nerves and then he asked me if I was dating Edward and I kinda shouted 'no!' as if I really didn't want to date him and Edward was standing right behind me." I caved pitifully quickly, but then I thought – apart from Edward, of course – they were my best allies and closest friends in this place.

"Oh, Bella," Alice shook her head sadly, "It's all about spatial awareness in this place."

"I know, I just think I have foot-in-mouth disease," I lamented.

"Oh, well. It's just gonna take a little longer now," Alice replied as if she hadn't heard me.

"What's gonna take a little longer?" I asked – Jesus, Alice does love her cryptic little remarks.

"Well, getting you two together, of course," Rosalie replied.

"What? Who says we're gonna get together?" I was feeling defensive, I didn't like assumptions and I didn't like being told what to do – especially when it came to boys, that was one of the things I _wasn't _missing about my mum.

"Bella." Alice said sternly as she grasped my hands in hers, "Do you or do you not want to date my brother?"

"Your brother?" I asked confused, I thought Edward said she ran away from an orphanage when she was ten.

"I think of him as my brother. Now do you want to date him?" she asked impatiently, "Quickly! He's coming back this way and he's gonna have to sit here to eat."

"Err," I started to panic, I didn't like making rushed decisions, "Yes?"

Alice and Rosalie turned ecstatic, "Good!" Alice squealed before she got up and danced around the other side of the table and sat next to Riley, still grinning at me.

I could see Edward approaching now and I started to get nervous, "What if Edward doesn't want to date me?" I whispered to Rosalie beside me.

"Don't worry about that, he already has a crush on you, only now he'll be trying extra hard to curb his feelings."

Edward was getting closer, "What do I do? There is no way I'm going to sit here attempting to flirt after he overheard... what I said to Riley."

"You're right, that would be seen as suspicious. Just reinforce the friendship vibe for now, they say the best lover is also your best friend," she waggled her eyebrows at me. Where did she get all this from?

Edward came back and eventually we started making awkward conversation. It was only by the end of the meal that we were back to our normal level of comfort – which was when Carlisle stood up to make an announcement. Everyone fell silent as he was about to speak, "First of all, let me say a warm welcome to Bella!" I blushed as everyone clapped for me, "And now, onto business. The time for me to retire from being the ringmaster is approaching. So it falls to the next generation to carry on the legacy, Emmett, Riley and Edward; you are the only boys eligible. So, good luck, and may the best ringmaster win!"

There was applause all round the table and I turned to Edward, "Wow! You could be ringmaster! That's so cool!" and hugged him. There was a moment of stiffness but he got over it and wrapped him arms around me too.

"Yeah, well... it remains to be see whether I will _actually_ become ringmaster," his reply was muffled in my hair and I let go of him, aware that I could be cutting off his air supply. People were now taking out used and dirty plates and bringing in desert. Five apple crumbles – I felt like Homer Simpson faced with a doughnut.

Edward managed to get him, me and Rosalie slices – he was very brave to go into _that_ and then to emerge victorious... I shook my head, impressed. Rosalie and Edward had cream while I had ice-cream with mine and I hadn't noticed the din around the table until I had to shout to tell Edward 'thanks'.

Edward noticed as well and suggested we escape. With much unneeded nudging from Rosalie, I agreed and we worked our way outside the tent. Edward handed me his desert and told me to stay there before disappearing off into the labyrinth of caravans that was his home. I was a little put out until he came back with a stack of blankets and a couple of extra hoodies. He set one of the blankets up so we could sit and lean against the tent wall. He took the bowls off me and placed them on the blanket while we shrugged into what I'm guessing were a pair of Emmett's old hoodies. We sat down and one blanket was draped over our laps while the last one was pulled over our shoulders.

It was now dark enough to see the stars and it had stopped raining a while ago, though the ground and the tent wall were still quite wet. The stars were beautiful and Edward pointed out the North Star, saying that, where ever you are, it will always guide you home – of course you probably had to have some basic navigational skills for that to work. We finished our apple crumbles and by the end I was so full I knew I wouldn't be able to stand up...

Next thing I knew I was being lifted. I heard someone whispering to be careful but I didn't know who. I looked to my left to see Edward still asleep although he was being picked up by Emmett. Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I let them close once again. Next time I became semi-conscious I was being lifted out of a car by Carlisle. I saw Esme and Edward's mum Liz, there and I swear I heard Liz whisper, "I'm glad you're in my son's life."

I guess I was handed over to Charlie and put to bed by him because I was woken up by my alarm the next morning, still in my clothes from yesterday although my jumper and shoes had been taken off.

* * *

**A/N - **so yeah, no beta, but I've gone through this a gazillion times so there shouldn't be (m)any mistakes.

oh, by the way, i was thinking of adding a little of the supernatural into this... what do you think?


	5. uh oh, here comes trouble

**Chapter 5 – uh oh, here comes trouble **

Waking up on Friday wasn't fun. Although I was well rested from the sheer volume of food I ate last night along with falling asleep early, I was still groggy as I got up. I wandered down into the kitchen wondering if this was what a hangover felt like. When I got downstairs Charlie was already there, I could tell he wasn't happy with me.

"Bells, you should stay away from them... They're not good people," Charlie said.

"How would you know?" I demanded.

"They're travellers, of course they're not good people."

"You don't know them," I retorted lowly, my anger at the injustice simmering just below the surface.

"Neither do you! They could all be drunks and thieves for all you know!"

"And they could actually be nice people that don't deserve your prejudice! You once told me never to judge a book by its cover, but now you're too jaded to realise that some people don't fit the stereotype!" I said and immediately turned and rushed up the stairs before he could reply.

The whispers still managed to get on my nerves a little. You'd have thought they'd never heard of lesbians before... had none of them heard of Lindsay Lohan? But without the drugs and anorexia. Eww. Even I wouldn't sink that low.

I decided to skip last period, the way I see it, I was doing everyone a favour, I mean, I really don't think they appreciate me tripping over everyone – and taking them with me – in basket ball. When I got to the circus, Riley was sat near one of the caravans with Bree and Maggie. I quickly got out my truck and and walked over to Riley to ask where Edward was. He gave me a disbelieving look and motioned for me to go with him somewhere a little more private than right next to an extremely talkative five-year-old.

"You know, I can't believe you're still after him. Seriously, the guy's _pathetic!_ He never stands up for himself and he hardly ever gets mad about anything! You know, he thinks he's _all that_ and they all want _him_ to be the next ringmaster_, he gets everything!"_ he ranted.

So far, I had been unimpressed and his rant had lowered my opinion of him even more, "So you think _you_ should be ringmaster?" I asked with a warning look on my face.

"Maybe! I just think that it's unfair that Alice and Jasper, his mum, Bree and I swear even Esme are rooting for him to be the next ringmaster, they're probably gonna try and persuade the circus to pick him. I mean, _everyone_ likes him, even Tanya!" he shouted bitterly.

In that moment I felt bad for him... a little, "It doesn't mean you can be a complete bastard to him though and it's not like no-one likes _you_. Edward told me about the crush Jane has on you, I mean, he told me you two were always together, I guess he thought you knew." I could see the realisation light up his eyes, "And I'm sure your parents are supporting you, but seriously, how are you going to be ringmaster if you hold petty grudges?"

"Bella!" I heard Edward's voice and spun around with a smile on my face to see Edward walking towards me, waving and grinning. He walked over to me and Riley, his smile going from relaxed to fixed as he got closer, "So... what are you guys up to?" he asked after a brief pause.

I shrugged, eyeing Riley but, there came an awkward silence – since the apology I was hinting at obviously wasn't going to come – which was just _killing_ me. I had to break it, "So... are we gonna head off now?" I said to Edward.

We walked away to Edward's caravan and Edward immediately collapsed onto his bed. Suddenly he turned to me as if he'd forgotten something, "Do you want a drink or anything?" he offered from the bed.

"Yeah, have you got a coke or something?" I asked as I lowered myself onto the bed too.

He got up and tossed me a can of coke out the fridge; I caught it and raised an eyebrow at him, "You expect me to open this now?"

He looked at me blankly for a second before taking the can off me and replacing it gently with a new one. I opened it carefully – just in case – and was glad to see that the can _didn't _explode in my hand. I saw Edward lay down on the bed opposite me, he was watching me drink.

"Doesn't school usually finish later than this?" Edward asked with his brows furrowed. I smiled slightly at how naïve he was being.

"Yep, I just decided that I would rather be here than in P.E."

"Isn't that kind of against the school rules?" he asked really perplexed now.

"Yep," I nodded and took another sip of my coke, my indifference making me feel cool... for once. I had never actually broken any of the school rules before,i was always the responsible one – no matter how many times Jake tried to persuade me to join in with his immature antics.

We were silent for a minute before I spotted some books on the shelf above Edward's bed. I stood up and turned around to get a better look at them. As I was browsing, Edward offered to let me read one if I wanted. He stood up behind me and peered over my shoulder to see which books I was taking an interest in.

He saw the one I was looking at, "Huh, I haven't read this one in ages, forgot I even had it," he said as he plucked it from the shelf and handed it to me as we both sat down on his bed.

I could feel how close Edward was as he looked over my shoulder to read the book too. I could feel his hair tickle my ear occasionally and I eventually – after about two seconds – batted his hair away, but Edward just rested his head on my shoulder.

At least his hair wasn't tickling me any more.

"Is this ok?" He said after a minute, "Your shoulder is really comfy by the way."

"Yeah," I replied truthfully. I grinned as I settled down to read the book, soon getting lost in the words on the page, but I did note that Edward was the only friend that would ever just sit down and read a book with me... I never knew reading like that could be a group activity.

After about... god knows how long – I just knew it was enough time for me to read seventeen pages – I shifted my position slightly as my entire left leg was dead; but as I shifted position, I noticed Edward had gone completely limp.

I looked at him on shock, _he fell asleep on my shoulder! _Was I _that_ boring? I had no idea what I was supposed to do with him now, the position looked uncomfortable but I didn't know if I should risk waking him or if I should just leave him.

I decided to leave him, because he just looked so peaceful there... Plus I kinda liked that he was sleeping on my shoulder, it made me feel happy that he felt so comfortable around me. Only, Edward then decided to wrap his arm around me – in his sleep of course. I froze but he didn't wake up, so I relaxed and carried on reading. I got to page eighty-four when Emmett burst through the door, startling Edward awake.

He bolted upright and looked at the door, the expression on his face a combination of sleepy, shocked and bewildered. But what came out of his mouth was the strangest thing of all, "Damn the square pizza boxes!"

Emmett threw his head back and let out the single most loudest laugh I had ever heard. Ever. I giggled along with him, silently wondering just what the hell Edward was dreaming about. "'Damn the square pizza boxes', Ed? Really? And cuddling up to poor, sweet, _innocent_ Bella? _Smooth!_" Emmett chuckled while Edward massaged his neck... maybe I _should've_ moved him.

Edward flushed and retorted, "Why are pizza boxes square, anyway? Shouldn't they be round?"

Good question.

Emmett, however, decided to ignore that comment and focus on the whole sleep-cuddle thingy. Bastard. I thought both mine and Edward's cheeks were going to be stained permanently red after this.

Edward leaned in to whisper to me once Emmett had gone out of hearing range, "A little tip if you're going to be hanging around here, never let Emmett get shit on you... or always seek the protection of Rosalie."

"Come on Ed!" Emmett shouted from outside, "We can squeeze in another hour of workout before the first show tonight!"

"What! You've _got_ to be kidding me! We had three hours earlier! That's _why_ I fell asleep!" Edward shouted back as he stood up and went to the door to make eye contact with Emmett as he was telling him just how ridiculous his suggestion was.

"Well, I'm making it my personal mission to get you buff, bro! You'll never get a girl to cuddle, with arms as scrawny as _that!_" Emmett winked at me; and the curse of the red cheeks returns! Only Edward looked a little more furious than me.

As if Emmett couldn't see the proverbial steam coming out of Edward's ears, he bounced forward and grabbed Edward, towing him back to the black workout tent. I followed, feeling a little concerned. It was still early afternoon and I was wondering just how demanding Emmett could get.

"You don't have to come, Bella." Edward called out over his shoulder.

"Nah, she can just appreciate the effects!" Emmett retorted with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Edward groaned and hung his head while I stopped and blushed.

"Emmett, _seriously?_" I heard Alice shout from behind me.

"Seriously!" he shouted back as they both disappeared inside the tent.

"God help us," Alice muttered to herself before turning to me and brightening up considerably, "Oh well, at least Edward can't hide you away any more!"

She giggled and grabbed my hand, leading me to presumably her caravan. She let go of my hand before running into the caravan then almost immediately reappeared, pushing lanky blonde man out.

"Mornin' Bella," he said while smirking and nodding at me before strolling away with a book tucked under his arm. I watched him walk away for a few moments before Alice ordered me into the caravan. She sat me on a chair and threatened tying me to it if I even considered doing a runner... which I was definitely considering. The amount of bottles and containers and just general girly stuff... it was a wonder the caravan hadn't collapsed!

She started with the face.

She clipped my hair back and then smeared some skin coloured stuff all over me – my face is already that colour! Why do you need to put stuff on it to make it look more like the colour it already is? Then she put colour on my eyelids... blue.

I told her she better not make me look like a clown, she told me if I didn't shut up she would make me look worse than a clown.

She also told me to have a little faith.

Rosalie came in just as Alice was smearing goo all over my lips; it made them feel sticky. She walked in and flopped gracefully on the bed, watching Alice finish my face.

"So, what's your plan of action?" Rosalie asked as she passed a lock of hair through the straighteners.

"Plan? For what?" I asked, perplexed.

"Getting Ed to ask you out." Alice replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Erm... I don't really have a specific plan in mind."

"Well, I suppose you always have to start with feeling comfortable around each other," Alice mused.

"Comfortable enough to fall asleep?" I asked, to which they both nodded, "Check."

"Right... well, now you have to _subtly_ let him know that you like him in that way... you know, romantically," Rosalie supplied.

"Ok, and how am I going to do that?"

"Definitely _not_ the way Tanya did it – by playing the damsel in distress! Let him know that you think he's attractive, maybe wear something a bit more flattering... you know, _flirt." _

I groaned, this wasn't really helping, I didn't know how to flirt! Suddenly, I found myself staring into the mirror with my hair and make up done, in a fancier top and with Alice and Rosalie expecting me to go out and flirt with Edward. _How the hell did I get myself into this!_ It was almost half five now, and the show started at seven. An hour and a half to flirt with Edward. And that was if Emmett was even finished with him yet.

We exited the caravan together - kinda like Charlie's angels, but without the guns - and Rosalie went to reign Emmett in and free Edward.

I fidgeted nervously with the hem of my borrowed top while Alice led me to the big tent where we had the big feast yesterday. She told me that, apart from Thursdays, dinner time was more individual, as in people could come in and cook for themselves and whoever else they wanted but didn't have to cook for the whole circus. Alice started making spaghetti bolognese, with my help, and then with Rosalie's help after she returned from fetching the boys for dinner. Oh god, I sound like a housewife!

However, Rosalie assured me that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach.

Then Alice assured me that the problem wasn't in getting Edward to like me, it was getting him to ask me out... which, she claimed, was a different thing entirely.

"Seriously Bella, he has a crush on you, it's obvious, _plus_ he admitted it when I asked him, so no arguing. He just doesn't think he stands a chance with you! _That's _what's stopping him!" she exclaimed, exasperated.

I frowned, "Well that's just stupid, how could he think he doesn't have a chance!"

"Well, for the amount of trouble he attracts, I'm surprised he's even talking to you."

We were sitting around, waiting for the pasta to boil now. Then Emmett came in demanding food and pouting like a child when we told him it wasn't done yet. Edward came in not too long after him and his eyes went immediately to me, and then up and down my body... before frowning.

"Why are you wearing Alice's top? Did you spill something?" he asked.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and smacked him round the back of his head, "Ow! What the hell!" he shouted before Alice shoved plates and cutlery into his arms and told him sharply to go set the table.

Emmett started chuckling as soon as Edward was pushed out the kitchen, "Even _I'm_ not that oblivious."

"Well, you're not helping!" Rosalie rounded on him, "You're making jokes about him liking Bella and making him embarrassed about it! He's not going to do anything when you're there to make fun of him for it!"

Rosalie would make a good mother.

Alice sighed as the pasta finished boiling. She drained and rinsed it – while Rosalie continued to tell Emmett _exactly _how important it was that me an Edward get together – before taking the food through to the table where Edward was setting places for us. We sat down and managed to have a nice meal, despite the meaningful looks being sent between Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and me. I wasn't sure whether Edward caught the looks, but if he did, he didn't comment.

We were almost finished when Garrett – Rosalie had to remind me – joined us at the table, helping himself to what was left. He was funny, adventurous and friendly, I liked him, but his presence still made it slightly awkward around the table. At least it stopped Emmett making any suggestive comments.

It wasn't long before the majority of the circus was milling about in the tent, eating their own dinner before they had to perform. After the initial awkwardness with Garrett, the rest of the meal was very enjoyable and Garrett was very funny and friendly. He even offered for me to stay with him in the sound booth with him for the show, I of course agreed.

Being in the sound booth was awesome! Garrett showed me how everything worked and we had a good view as Garrett needed to see when to change the music and play the sound effects. I said a quick goodbye to Edward when the show was over and went home tired out.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I remembered that I forgot to do the weekly shopping on Friday._ Joy._ So I had to do that this morning and I had resolved myself to confronting Jake later today too, looks like this Saturday was gonna be a busy one.

I went to the shop while still half asleep, roaming around the isles like a zombie. Why I had decided to do this now, I will never know. I tried to make the excursion as quick and as painless as possible, of course, it wasn't completely without suffering.

I was so happy to get back home that I collapsed in the sofa without putting anything away. I fell asleep there and woke up an hour later, lucky that I had no frozen stuff out. I had no idea why I was so tired though I suppose two late nights in a row was bound to affect me today.

I marched down the familiar driveway and knocked harshly on the door. Billy answered it and told me that Jake was in the garage, so I turned on my heel and started towards the garage, not caring if I was acting slightly rude.

"Jacob." I said, he knew he was in trouble now, "Did you make Edward wash your car and then threaten him to keep quiet about it?" I asked trying not to shout.

Unfortunately, Jacob wasn't getting the whole _quiet_ vibe, "That little whelp! He just came crying back to you didn't he? He's a pathetic little _rat_ Bella! Get over him already and stop messing around! Cant you see he's no good for you? He's in a fucking circus! He's a fucking circus freak! Circuses are always full of retards that cant get by in society, that's why they're _there!_"Jake screamed at me, throwing a wrench into the wall.

"What the fuck!"

"You heard me, they're just a bunch of freaks that were rejected by society."

"Freaks my arse Jacob Black! Are you that blind that you reject anything new or different, despite their merits? You know if everyone was like you we would never have gotten out of the dark ages!"

"Fine go join the freak show, you belong there anyway!"

"You really are a piece of work Jake, you know that?" I said quietly before I turned and left.

I felt the tears spilling from my eyes but I ignored them as I climbed into my truck and hastily started it up. I pulled out and drove straight home. I knew Jake was a little self absorbed and a little judgemental, but I never dreamed he would take it this far and be so jealous.

I sat on the driveway for a moment, to tired to move. Emotionally tired, that is. Even so, I thought it would be a good idea to go home and sleep it off... after lunch.

It was Saturday, I was now feeling refreshed after my afternoon nap – god, yesterday I was a housewife, today I'm an old fogey! Anyway, I decided that since the powers that be were so kind as to make a weekend last two days... I'd leave my homework until tomorrow. Sounded like a solid plan to me.

Of course, I did realise that I was beginning to spend everyday there. My dad wouldn't be happy... oh well, it's not like he's here enough to find out – I loved having a dad that was married to his work! I quickly put some jeans on and a nicer top – Edward deserved more effort than Jake – I hopped into my truck and drove over there.

When I got there Edward was... nowhere. He wasn't with the animals, he wasn't in his caravan and he wasn't in the work out tent. So I wandered around the camp-site lazily, hoping I would run into someone who knew where he was and could point me in the right direction. Alas it was not so. I ended up finding Edward by myself instead.

He was in the big top – or whatever you call the big tent where they perform in – and he was practising juggling. I crept forward – because I didn't want to disturb him _obviously_, not because I wanted to watch him unnoticed for a bit. Come on, that would be just too cheesy!

He was there in his own little world, throwing and catching perfectly about six balls, doing some weird tricks with them... until he dropped one. I heard a muttered 'dammit' before he picked up the subsequent balls that had dropped, including the original. I giggled – _maybe_ on purpose – alerting him to the fact that he had an audience.

His eyes found mine and he smirked, but I could see he was _really_ happy to see me. Good. Then he beckoned me over to him. He waited until I was standing directly in front of him, about a foot away, and then he put one ball in my hand and told me to to throw it back and forth in a small arc at about eye level. Edward watched the ball intensely as I grew used to the action – it probably took me longer than anyone else on the planet, _sigh_, being so uncoordinated was such a pain.

Then Edward told me to stop, before he put another ball in the other hand. He instructed me to throw the first ball as I had been doing, then, when the ball was halfway through the air, I was to throw the other ball like I had just been doing.

I couldn't even get the timing right. Edward had to tell me when to throw the second ball, and even then, once I had another thing to concentrate on, I completely failed in the whole catching department. But Edward was very patient – bless him – and finally I was doing that with some modicum of success... about an hour later. I hadn't even realised how long we'd been here. Like Rosalie said on Thursday, time flies when you're having fun.

Just as I dropped a ball – _yet again_, this was getting slightly annoying – I looked at Edward a little exasperated – not at him... well, _maybe_ at him for trying to teach me how to juggle – and saw that he had a distant look on his face. "Edward?" I asked, getting his attention.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I was miles away, there," he said with a shake of his head and an apologetic expression on his face.

"What were you thinking?" I asked curiously.

"Why do people order big macs, then a _diet_ coke?" he asked rhetorically, "It's not like the _diet_ part of the coke is gonna really make much of a difference when they're ordering fast food."

I looked at him wonderingly – wondering why the hell he was thinking about that – and proceeded to reply to the rhetorical question – rhetorical meaning that the question is designed _not_ to have an answer – I answered it. For some reason, I just couldn't let a question go unanswered. "Erm... because they're idiots?"

Edward half-smiled and shrugged at me, and I did the same back at him. "Do you wanna carry on with this or do you wanna do something else now?" Edward asked.

"Do something else please, I need something I'm vaguely competent at to make me feel better about myself after all of this failure."

"Just keep practising," Edward told me. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure," I shrugged. I put my balls down – oh _ha ha_, very funny! You people have _dirty_ minds – and followed Edward out of the tent and along the trail we took the dogs down those two times. We walked for a bit, before I had to go and cook dinner for me and Charlie – I thought that, since I'd skipped making dinner yesterday, I should really make sure I cook tonight. And then I would do homework tomorrow... and to motivate me, I would have to get it all done, then I could come over again. Sounded like a flippin' good plan.

**Edward's pov**

I was walking back to camp with two bags of dog food – we were running low – and some chocolate, requested by various people – I had to go to three different shops to get everything that everyone wanted – when I saw the arsehole with anger issues plus two of his friends. We were on the outskirts of town and there was no-one else in sight. I ducked my head and tried to walk around them quickly. I didn't get far before I heard Jacob call out to me, "Oi! You!"

I didn't falter in my steps, just sped up, hoping they would lose interest as soon as I was far enough away... but they didn't. They started after me, while I hurried further away from town. They were whispering and muttering to each other, suddenly they jogged to catch up with me. They pushed me into the woods – not deep, but enough to be out of sight and hearing range of the occasional car driving down the road.

I stumbled sideways, a surprised "Hey!" falling past my lips as I was dragged by my coat into the woods. I dropped my bags and the chocolate and eventually one of my trips landed me on my back without me being tugged up roughly by my fraying clothes. I scrambled to get to my feet, not only because I was so much more vulnerable on the ground, but because my pride wouldn't allow it. Sure, I don't believe in violence and I don't hit anyone back, but that doesn't mean I have to lay down and take it like a doormat.

"What do you want?" I asked suspiciously as I backed up slowly, trying to keep Jacob and his cronies in my line of sight.

"What did I tell you about keeping quiet?" Jacob asked menacingly, shoving me backwards until my back hit a tree, "Huh? What the fuck did I tell you?"

I groaned inwardly, I had practically begged her not to start anything. I knew it was a bad idea to tell her, but she had hit on my biggest weakness, damn my ticklish sides. I didn't answer him, I don't suppose he was looking for an answer, he was just enjoying a power trip. He might as well be singing '_naa naa na naaa naa_' at me and sticking his tongue out.

He waited until the realisation of what was happening sunk in and then punched me straight across the face. My head turned to the right with the force of the blow and as he went to punch me again I dodged under his arm but ran into the burlier one of his friends – his muscles were enough to rival Emmett's... and to overpower me. Not that I didn't put up a struggle... it just ended up with me being driven into the ground with the force of both mine and his weight falling on top of me.

I managed to fall on some exposed tree roots, I probably had scrapes all down one side of my face now. I squirmed a bit as a knoll in one of the roots dug into my thigh, but fortunately, I wasn't held down for long. The guy that was on top of me pulled me up by the shoulders of my coat and once again I tried to make a run for it. I slipped my arms out of my sleeves and sprinted, but I tripped on a tree root that was protruding from the ground particularly high.

I fell to my knees and hands this time, and Jacob wasn't nice enough to grab me by just my clothes, he went straight for my hair. Which hurt. His two thugs came and grabbed my arms securely this time, to keep me from getting away again. I guess this time they were worried I might actually succeed. As soon as it was clear I was going nowhere, he started hitting me with wild abandon. He had enough fury in him to rival the devil himself...

As I lay wheezing on my side, Jacob knelt down next to me and taunted me in a low voice, "I can tell you like her. God, doesn't everyone? But just so you know, you're not gonna get her. Bella needs more than a fucking _gypsy_ like you. Ha! You're never going to be enough for her. I mean, it's not like she would ever return your feelings. Worthless son of a bitch!" he stood up and kicked me once more before high-fiveing one of his friends as they walked off – one of them stopped to pick up the bag of sweets.

This guy certainly had a knack for making me feel like shit.

It was depressing being a measly obstacle in someone else's love-story. You know, the kind where they fight all odds to be together? They might make a few mistakes but in the end they end up happily together and inseparable, the hero and the heroine. Like Pocahontas and John Smith, like Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy, Cinderella and Prince Charming... I wondered what happened to the side kick, the ones who don't get the girl. Of course that's why she denied dating me so forcefully, she was with him. I couldn't see how, but there were a great many things I couldn't explain, Alice for one...

Like why Alice would be standing in the road when I finally limped out of the trees – well, not _in_ the road obviously, but right on the edge... as if she were waiting for me. It was weird, she was right by the bags of dog food that I'd dropped. Emmett and Jasper were right behind her and they all stopped as soon as they saw me. I staggered towards them and Emmett rushed forward to steady me.

Emmett and Jaz pulled both my arms around their shoulders while Alice picked up the dog food – no-one mentioned the stolen sweets. Alice walked ahead of us, phoning Carlisle and telling him that I had been found. It started raining on the way back, it was only spitting, but, by the time we got back, I was shivering. I was helped to my caravan and laid in my bed, where I promptly fell asleep.

The first thing I heard when I next opened my eyes was, "What the fuck happened, Edward!"

"Huh?"

It was Bella, she was sat on the bed across from me, her arms hugging her knees. She was looking sadly at me as she repeated herself, "I said what the fuck happened?"

I shifted uncomfortably, looking at my hands, fiddling with the blanket on top of me. When it became clear I wasn't going to respond, she carried on, "I mean, hell Edward, your entire face is black and blue, you've got scrapes all down one side of your face and on the heels of your hands, you've got several bruised ribs, a sprained ankle and god knows how many other bruises and scrapes! What. The. Fuck. _Happened!_"

I sighed, she wasn't going to let this go – I wasn't that surprised by the injuries, I could feel them – so I began to explain. "There was three of them. I had gone into town for more dog food and sweets, and they were just _there_. They turned aggressive so I ran for it, into the woods next to the road. But they caught me."

I looked at Bella then, she had tears in her eyes and she was biting her lip to keep it from trembling. "God I was so worried Edward!" she cried as she flung herself at me, sobbing as she tried to speak, "I just got here and then suddenly there was Alice and Jasper and they told me that Carlisle was treating you and I didn't know what the fuck had happened... And then Carlisle was there, saying I could go in and see you if I wanted but you were still asleep under the mild anaesthetic he gave you. So I came in and then there you were... You looked so _bad_ Edward." she whispered the last part into my shoulder as she lay on the bed right beside me.

She didn't notice my hiss of pain as we collided and I certainly wasn't going to tell her she was hurting me... she was upset enough as it was, plus _she was hugging me! _Despite the discomfort, I found myself smiling. If I couldn't have her the way Jacob has her, being her friend would be enough, right? _It's probably best anyway, since I'll have to leave soon._ I awkwardly put my arms around her and patted her back gently.

Then she pulled back, and before I knew it, she had grasped my head and pulled my lips to hers. I kissed her back on reflex and we both looked at each other in shock when she pulled back. We both blushed in sync and then I was confused, didn't Jacob say they were together?

"But... what about Jacob?" I asked, she looked at me confused, so I decided to elaborate, "He said you were together."

Now it was her turn to look confused... and then angry. She looked into my eyes, and fiercely told me, "_Never_ listen to _anything_ Jake tells you again, ok?"

I nodded.

Then my mum burst into the room followed by Esme and Alice, Bella barely had time to roll out of the way before my mum had flung herself – in a way much similar to what Bella had – on me and cried into my shoulder, blubbering things like '_my poor baby_' and '_oh my sweet boy_' with increasing pitch, each time she spoke. I felt myself blush again, the tips of my ears growing furiously hot, as I hugged my mum back. All I can say is: thank bloody god Emmett wasn't there.

Esme and Alice had to keep their distance until my mum had had her fill of fussing. In fact, they all stayed well back during this, they obviously felt that they had to show me some support but were probably wishing they didn't have to put their ears through that. And poor Bella was probably wondering why she didn't have the good sense to either escape earlier or wait until this caravan was a hysterical mum free zone.

I sighed and carried on patting her shoulder until she realised that I was indeed alive and in her arms, just as her senses were telling her.

Finally my mum had accepted the fact that I wasn't suddenly going to disappear if she let go, and sat up on the side of my bed, wiping her eyes. Then it was Esme's turn to swoop in for a 'get well soon' hug. Or maybe she wasn't as convinced as my mum that I was undeniably solid... of course the other explanation was that she was subtly trying to strangle me, seeing that my mum's attempt didn't work.

But Esme was too nice for that... I think.

No actual conversation had been started yet, although the caravan was filled with my mum's and Esme's sobs, no real communication had gone on. So it surprised me a bit when Alice suddenly asked who wanted a cup of tea. Now I know what you're thinking, _why would that surprise anyone?_ Well, I think the fact that mum and Esme had begun to calm down and Alice shouted it seemingly at the top of her lungs might have had something to do with it... and for the record, I wasn't the only one that jumped.

After mum and Esme had accepted her offer and Bella and I had declined, Alice busied herself with making the drinks while mum was constantly asking how I felt and if I wanted or needed anything. Then Emmett Jaz and Rose tried to squeeze into the tiny caravan too, which gave the impression of being packed into a tin of sardines. There was a lot of hustle and bustle in and around the caravan that night and I could feel myself become tired very quickly.

Of course Carlisle noticed this with his hawk-eyes and the fact that he was hovering over me almost constantly and announced that I was tired and proceeded to usher everyone out the door with the promise that they could come see me tomorrow. All the goodbyes were said as everyone went out the room and then I was left alone... it took me about a second to fall asleep, and _oh my god_ was I ready for sleep!

* * *

**A/N - howdy everybody! a nice long chappy for you today! **

**did everyone get the lion, the witch and the wardrobe reference in the last chappy title? ...Oh well, if you didn't i guess you have now.**

**Anyway, please please please review! i thrive on them! oh and i still kinda want your opinions on the whole supernatural thingy that i'm considering so there's even _more_ reason for you to review now, you can't not!  
**


	6. heal quickly, I hope you will

**Chapter 6 - heal quickly, I hope you will  
**

I lay in bed on Monday morning thinking back over the weekend. On Sunday I had – as I promised myself – done all my homework before going to the circus. But when I got to Edward's caravan, there was a small group of people – about five – gathered around it... all looking worryingly worried.

It had been fairly late in the day, having spent longer on my homework than I was expecting and so much longer than I wanted to.

"What's up?" I asked, oblivious to what had everyone so worried... but not for long.

"It's Ed," Alice turned to me and said, "He was coming back from town when he was taken into the woods and beaten up... we're not sure exactly what happened."

I stared at her: eyes wide, mouth open, "What? What's going on now? How is he?" I asked in blind panic.

"Carlisle's with him at the moment, he was bruised up really bad when we carried him back. He may also have a sprained ankle," Jasper – Alice told me – turned around and said kindly to me.

The door opened then, and Carlisle walked out looking haggard and gaunt, "He's asleep for now, I gave him a mild anaesthetic so he will most likely be asleep for a while, you can see him if you like," then he shuffled tiredly off somewhere, presumably to get cleaned up.

Esme and Elizabeth rushed in first – I swear if Elizabeth wasn't there, I would've thought Esme was his mum. They spent a while in there, probably checking him over to see his injuries themselves. Eventually, Esme led Elizabeth out, saying that there was nothing they could do for Edward now and it would only make him worse if he woke up to his mum in the mess that she was.

Emmett and Jaz went in then, and I would have protested, if they hadn't known him for so much longer than me. They spent about ten minutes in there before they came out... and then it was mine and Alice's turn. I entered the caravan with Alice, it was only feasible to have two visitors in at a time, otherwise it would get cramped and the caravan was _really _tiny. I sat on the bed that should be Emmett's and hugged my knees while staring at his bruised face. Typical, as soon as I work out that I might be falling for a guy, said guy goes and gets himself beaten up!

I don't think he planned on getting beaten up though; even just his face looked extremely painful.

We were in there for only a few minutes before Edward started stirring. Alice – who had had her arms wrapped around me for almost the entire time we had been there – murmured that she was going to find Esme and his mother to tell them that Edward was waking up... she said she would tell everyone else too. She got up and meandered to the door and slipped through it.

Only seconds after Alice left, Edward opened his pretty green eyes.

I had been so worried about him... unfortunately this, combined with the relief I felt at him waking up, made me sound more angry than anything as I said, "What the fuck happened, Edward!"

"Huh?" was articulate response... but he _had_ just woken up from the mild anaesthetic so I obviously shouldn't expect too much from him.

So, I repeated what I had asked earlier... verbatim, "I said: what the fuck happened?"

He shifted uncomfortably, looking at his hands, fiddling with the blanket on top of him. When it became clear he wasn't going to respond, I carried on, "I mean, hell Edward, your entire face is black and blue, you've got scrapes all down one side of your face and on the heels of your hands, you've got several bruised ribs, a sprained ankle and god knows how many other bruises and scrapes! What. The. Fuck. _Happened!_"

"There was three of them. I had gone into town for more dog food and sweets, and they were just _there_. They turned aggressive so I ran for it, into the woods next to the road. But they caught me," he explained.

He looked at me then, he was so apprehensive and I just couldn't stop the tears anymore. "God I was so worried Edward!" I sobbed into his shoulder, "I just got here and then suddenly there was Alice and Jasper and they told me that Carlisle was treating you and I didn't know what the fuck had happened... And then Carlisle was there, saying I could go in and see you if I wanted but you were still asleep under the mild anaesthetic he gave you. So I came in and then there you were... You looked so _bad_ Edward," I whispered.

I was so comfortable as I laid on Edward, his presence was like a soothing balm across all my worry and stress. He then awkwardly put his arms around me and patted my back gently, just heightening my bliss even more. I think I was in love with Edward right then.

Barely aware of my actions, impulse taking over, I suddenly found my lips pressed to his. Then he was kissing me back and... _!_ _Wow! _I pulled back after too short a time and we both looked at each other in shock. We both blushed in sync and then Edward looked at me, confused.

"But... what about Jacob? He said you were together." Edward said.

Now it was my turn to be confused... and then angry. I looked into his eyes, and, injecting all the fierceness and authority into my voice that I could, told him, "_Never_ listen to _anything_ Jake tells you again, ok?"

He nodded.

Then his mum burst into the room followed by Esme and Alice, I had barely gotten out of the way before Elizabeth had flung herself at Edward and cried into his shoulder, wailing things like '_my poor baby_' and '_oh my sweet boy_' with increasing pitch, each time she spoke – I _really _wouldn't like to be caught in the middle of that – I even felt sorry for Edward when I saw him blush again, as he hugged his mum back.

Eventually other people flocked to the caravan, obviously relieved that Edward was alive and well, until Edward's eyes started drooping, that was when Carlisle kicked us out. I went home, safe in the knowledge that Edward would most likely be alive by the time I was out of school tomorrow... and that I could visit him!

School dragged – exceptionally so. I even thought about skipping the afternoon but I knew I couldn't miss another lesson without appearing suspicious. So I waited... and waited... and then waited some more...

Until finally, with a huge sigh of relief, I was able to drive over there. I parked my truck and went straight to his caravan... to find it empty. _What the hell...?_ Where was he? I mean, he was kinda injured... I wandered out of his caravan trying to decide in my head where Edward would most likely be... I didn't fare too well with that as: A) shouldn't he be in bed? And B) I had only been in a handful of places here, he could be anywhere...

So I decided I would just walk around a bit and hopefully I would either find him or find someone who knew where he was.

"Bella!"

My head snapped in the direction the call came from, and waved to Alice as she stood by the stables, leaning against the wall. I walked towards her, intending to find out where Edward was, but upon reaching her, found my goal rendered unnecessary as there he was, leading Bree around on one of the horses – I couldn't remember what that one was called. He hadn't noticed me yet so I turned and arched an eyebrow at Alice.

She simply shrugged and said, "He was getting restless, and it's not like his ribs are broken, just bruised. I know he has to take it easy, but he's hardly straining himself... and he _had_ promised Bree," she rolled her eyes at the last part.

I smirked and shook my head at Edward's ability to con even Alice into getting something he wanted, and leaned on the wall next to her, watching as Edward led Bree around. He was too sweet – continually looking over his shoulder to check on Bree and being so attentive to the horse as well. He also looked better than he did yesterday, which gave me no end of relief.

"If only he would take as much care when it's himself," Alice sighed after a few seconds. I snorted, _if only_ indeed.

He was heading towards us now and smiling sheepishly at the stern expression on my face. He knew he was in trouble. "Hi," he said awkwardly as he reached us.

I ignored Bree's cry of 'Yay! Bella!' and lifted an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you be resting?" I said.

Alice quickly took the reigns off Edward and led Bree inside the stables while Edward ran a hand through his hair before weakly defending himself, "I've been resting all day; and Carlisle said walking would be alright, my ribs were only bruised after all... and I _had_ promised Bree."

"Only? You think that being beaten up is just an everyday thing?" I asked incredulously.

"No, it's not such a trivial matter, but what I'm trying to say is that being bed-bound isn't necessary. I'm sorry I worried you but I think the distress from cabin fever would have done more harm than good." He took a hesitant step forward and shyly tucked my hair behind my ear. "You ok?"

"Yeah," I managed to answer, "but can we take it easy from now on anyway?"

He sucked in a breath, "Is there any way of taking it easy _not_ in that bloody caravan?"

"Sure, if walking is fine we could just walk around here for a bit then if you feel tired, we're not too far away."

"Sounds like a plan," he said as he gently took my hand in his and led the way around the circus.

We were walked for a while until I spotted a nice place to sit and – ever concerned for Edward's condition – convinced him to sit down almost immediately so he could rest. I could imagine how vexing it was to be able to do so little, especially for as lively a person as Edward. But what could I do? What could I say? I could find no words of comfort to offer him, only my mere presence – which I was doubtful would be enough to lift his spirits; I had a feeling only healing and being given the go ahead for more physical exercise would give him back that lively energy he usually possessed.

I carefully rested my head on his shoulder – the uninjured side of course! Jesus, I just said I was always concerned for him – and absently ran my hand up and down his arm, mildly wishing he wasn't wearing long sleeves. We stayed there for a measureless amount of time, me thinking about how much my life sucked outside of this circus and how much better it was here. Edward, however, wasn't on _quite_ the same page...

"Hey, what are you thinking?" I asked softly, not wanting to completely destroy the peace that had since settled around us when we sat down.

"...If aliens landed right now, what would you say to them?" he asked, his voice taking on a dazed quality which told me his mouth was answering my question automatically while his mind was still trapped in an alternate universe where aliens had in fact landed and we were faced with the dilemma of speaking to them.

"_I surrender_?" I responded with a shrug, "Why? What would you say?"

"Hmm. Probably... 'can you speak English?'"

I laughed, "That's actually a really good one!" Edward chuckled along with me, looking slightly surprised that someone had gained so much mirth and humour from something he had said.

Soon, an older man came walking around the corner, his skin was a rich, dark chocolate with dark as night dreadlocks, with silver streaks through them, hanging down by his face and and brushing his shoulders. Sure he was old-ish, but everyone in this circus was in shape – and he wasn't bad looking either.

"Ah, bonjour Edward. How are those ribs feeling today?" he spoke with a distinct French accent colouring his speech.

"Hi Laurent. The ribs aren't that bad, I can get around ok; it will be just if I knock into anything or strain myself that they'll start to hurt."

"That's as good as can be expected I suppose," he murmured in agreement as he came to a stop in front of us, "So, how's Claire de lune coming along?"

Edward gave a small shrug, "Alright."

"Wait." I interrupted, "Claire de lune? As in Debussy?"

Edward merely flushed while Laurent exclaimed, "Of course! What other Claire de lune is there? You certainly do have good taste my girl! Do you like classical piano music?"

I nodded, slightly nervous as a result of Laurent's borderline scary enthusiasm.

"How wonderful! We have such a beautiful baby grand piano here. Why, I taught Ed everything he knows on the piano!"

Wow! I turned to Edward silently begging with my eyes for him to play for me. He looked at me, biting his lip, indecision and doubt written plainly across his face. But just as I was losing hope that Edward would agree, Laurent interjected again, "Oh! Maybe Ed would play for you – that's an excellent idea! Claire de lune is a beautiful song; it's fitting for a beautiful girl like you... and you have another connection with beauty? Am I right?" he said turning his head to look at Edward.

He nodded and at my confused expression – with added rosy cheeks from Laurent's flattery – continued to explain, "Your name: Bella... it means 'beautiful' in Italian."

I blushed anew. However this wasn't noticed as Laurent had taken Edward's words to be an assent and was rather enthusiastically remarking how pleased he was by this, and then ushering us to a green tent where an elegant, black grand piano stood, seemingly waiting just for us. Edward took his seat on the piano bench; I hovered only for a moment before I was urged by Laurent to sit beside him.

"I'm not really all that good, you know. And after Laurent's built it up so much, it's gonna seem even more lame..." Edward turned to me and said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, I can't even play the piano, so no matter how you play, I'm gonna be impressed."

He gave a half smile and reluctantly began to play. True, he didn't play perfectly; but it was still good, only a few slips here and there. Overall, it was excellent.

"Laurent! Are you harassing that dear boy while his ribs are trying to heal?" came a stern voice from outside the tent.

"I am but entertaining guests, my dear Irina," Laurent said as a beautiful pale woman entered the tent. Her hair was blonde and styled perfectly; she was another maternal figure in the circus, endearingly sweet and also commanding... maybe it was just a circus thing?

I spent the next few minutes being fussed over while Edward just smirked and watched. Bastard. But he eventually managed to get us out of there still intact and with a practised ease of being around the couple for a long time.

"Sorry, about Laurent. He's an old romantic and much too involved in other people's lives to be considered entirely healthy," he said as we walked out of earshot of Laurent and Irina.

I nodded and we walked a little further in silence before I asked, "So, when do you think you'll be... back in action?"

"Carlisle thinks I'll be able to perform on Thursday, as long as I don't re-injure myself." I looked at him sharply at the mention of him injuring himself again, he sighed, "When I asked if I could do other things apart from just laying around in bed all day, Carlisle was reluctant at first, but he eventually admitted that some gentle exercise would be good for the healing process as long as it was combined with plenty of sleep; and the only reason he objected in the first place was because he knew how '_lively_' I was and he thought that being able to exercise a little would prove to be too much temptation for me."

"Oh. So was that why Alice was guarding you earlier? To make sure you didn't give in to temptation?" I realised.

"...yeah," he admitted. "Hey, it's getting pretty late – do you need to go home?"

"I'm sure my dad can survive on pizza for the afternoon," I replied.

Edward smiled ruefully, "You should probably go have dinner with your dad, I want you to be able to keep coming round here."

"You have a point. But I will be seeing you tomorrow," I promised sternly as we redirected ourselves towards my truck.

"Don't forget to do all your homework," he grinned at me.

"Ha! I promise... Well, see ya. I guess..."

"Bye Bella."

We hugged briefly, gently; and then I was getting in my truck and driving back to my house. Charlie was still at work when I came home so I just started cooking; I decided to make my favourite – spaghetti bolognese – and if Chief Charlie wasn't home by the time it was ready then he could just stick it in the microwave. I was walking upstairs to my room when my dad came in and I replied to his call as I entered my room.

I managed to finish most of my homework before giving up and going to bed, not in the least bit ready to face the monotony of school in the morning. Although, considering how monotonous school was, I don't see how I couldn't be ready for it, I could be completely asleep and still be ready.

The whole day, I barely managed to pay attention in class but forgot everything as soon as I stepped out the door. At lunch I was sat between Eric and Jess; the latter giving me knowing and dirty looks while I fended off advances from the former. Tomorrow I was sitting next to Angela. How would I be able to make it through to graduation with only one friend? It was nearly a year and a half away!

I drove to the circus and wandered around, hoping – like yesterday – I would bump into either Edward or someone who knew where he was. However, what I was met with was a frantic Alice, desperately wishing and begging that I wasn't useless with a needle and thread – like apparently most people 'round here' were. Without waiting for an answer she dragged me to the same green tent I heard Edward play piano in yesterday.

In this green tent sat – in order – Esme, Elizabeth, Tanya, Edward, Garrett, Sulpicia and Jasper; all were sewing what looked like brightly coloured costumes. Edward made room between him and Tanya while material, thread and a needle were pushed into my hands and Alice was verbally panicking over how she could've forgotten that she needed to repair these before Thursday.

"Yes Alice," I said meekly once Alice had finished barking orders at me.

Edward leaned into me and murmured, "I think '_heil Hitler_' would have been more appropriate."

I giggled and began sewing. Making sure to keep my head down and look busy when Alice returned with Rosalie and Liam. After that Alice stayed in the tent with us and worked on the sewing as well. At first everyone was silent, afraid to speak in case they might incur the wrath of Alice. But when Esme asked who wanted a cup of tea, the murmurings of assent and dissent gave way to murmurings of conversation. Once the atmosphere was lightened, everyone – surprisingly including me – started to enjoy themselves a bit.

Until the conversation turned to where they were going next.

Everyone agreed that Alaska – at this time of year – wasn't a good idea. They were leaving in only two weeks. Two weeks yesterday to be exact... my muscles clenched with the realisation. What was the point of pursuing him then? If as soon as we got together, we would be forced apart. I felt a little choked up as I slowly turned my head to look at Edward, receiving a small, sad smile in return. We traded phone numbers at the end of the evening.

I once again got home before Charlie, made our tea and finally went upstairs and did some homework, falling asleep fairly early and not having noticed when Charlie came home. The next day I once again drifted through my day, barely managing to pay attention. I was in Spanish – the last lesson of the day for me – when I was suddenly jerked out of my near catatonic stupor by the mention of a pair project.

The teacher paired us up and I was thankful I was with Ben and not someone else. He was quiet and shy just like me... and hopefully he was intelligent too.

"So, Bella. You wanna get together tonight or...?" Ben asked me as we were walking out the door.

"Sorry. I can't tonight, how about tomorrow? I could come over at half five?" I told Ben a time when the circus was performing so I wouldn't lose any more time with Edward this week... but I wasn't foolish enough to believe I could work with Ben only when the circus was on. But I could always wish...

I may have sped a little on my way to Edward's.

Edward must have heard me because as I pulled up, he opened the door and came out to meet me. "Hi," he said, smiling softly.

"Hey, how's the ribs doing?"

"Better," his face was looking better too, the bruises having faded almost completely, now, "I have almost full range of motion now and I can bear a little weight." He finished, smiling.

"Did you finish those costumes Alice was panicking about?"

"Yeah, she would've had us up all night doing them, but mum and Esme convinced her that if everyone go some sleep we would be able to finish them today without leading an uprising against her. So we finished them this morning."

I chuckled, "So you have a free afternoon then?"

"Yeah." Edward replied before Emmett rounded the corner.

"Hey! Bella, Ed; you guys want anything from the shops?" He asked as soon as he saw us.

"Yeah, I'll have a bag of maltesers please," said Edward.

"Umm... can I get a double decker?"

"Sure," replied Emmett as they he past and hopped into an old Jeep. It suddenly occurred to me what had happened – they were afraid of what happened to Edward; so they sent the brawniest person they had.

Jacob was gonna die a slow, horrible, _painful_ death. This was officially the end of my friendship with him.

"Have you reported him?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"Jacob – have you reported him to the police yet?"

"Uh... no."

I whirled around, disbelief, frustration and residual anger colouring my tone and expression, "Why the hell not?"

"Your dad is the police chief, right?" I nodded, "And Jacob and his dad are family friends?" again, I nodded at his question. His face softened and took on a cautious look as he proceeded slowly, "Well... I don't think your dad would believe us against him, let alone charge him."

My initial reaction was to be shocked and offended that he thought that Charlie would be so narrow minded, Edward didn't even know my dad – hell, he was doing the same thing he was accusing Charlie of! He was stereotyping. "Don't you think you're being a bit presumptuous?"

"Bella, we've had people try to mess with us before, we've found it best to just close ranks and keep our heads down and move on quickly retaliating on something like this always backfires," he responded sounding tired, "However, if its just a couple of kids being pretty much harmless, we don't take that lying down."

Jake had officially crossed the line and I didn't know how I was supposed to just sit back and do nothing. But I had to let that thought go if I wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening here at the circus with Edward. Shaking it off I smiled and said brightly, "So, what are we doing today then?"

He smiled indulgently at me spreading his arms wide and shrugging his shoulders, "Whatever you like."

"Well, what else do you do for fun around here, other than playing the piano, juggling and playing with the animals?"

"We have a TV? But it only plays DVDs... and we don't have all that great a collection to be honest..."

"What have you got?" I asked quickly.

"Umm... there's the Harry Potter films, the Mummy films, fast and furious, rush hour, national treasure... a knights tale... star wars?" he reeled off, his speech getting slower as he struggled to remember.

"Wow. What about the star wars films?" I picked at random, it was a good thing I liked most of the films he was suggesting, especially a knights tale – that film was genius and Heath Ledger... We would have to watch that one at a later date.

He nodded and led the way to the tent. "I wonder why they made the Star wars films backwards..." he said as he entered a slightly larger caravan and made his way over to the shelves of DVDs.

I took the muted question to be rhetorical and went to sit on the large settee the other side of the caravan. We watched the whole of episode one before it started raining; then Tanya came in complaining of a leak in her caravan and claimed that Edward was the only one available who could fix it. She was strawberry blonde with naturally tanned skin, but her features were delicate like Alice's and cute like Bree's. She was slim and toned from living in the circus and she wore flattering clothes. My overall assessment was that she was pretty... and a much more permanent part of Edward's life.

The only thing working in my favour was that she was so young; she was fourteen and Edward would be seventeen soon... I was screwed. _Completely_ and _utterly_ screwed. Why would he pick me? I felt the depression beginning to seep through my being, of course he wouldn't pick me, nothing good ever lasts.

"Thanks Ed." Tanya purred while leaning forward and fluttering her eyelashes, making me realise that _Ed_ had agreed and was rummaging around in a drawer for something.

He found said object and held it up triumphantly, grinning at me and saying, "Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together." I chuckled and shook my head indulgently, opting to stay in the warm, dry caravan while Ed went and did his handyman thing.

While Edward was out being Mr fix-it, Alice managed to creep up on me, scaring me half to death, making me drop the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD case I was holding and laughing at me mercilessly as I grumbled at her and picked the damn case up. "So, how's it going?" she chirped in my ear as we both sat down on the settee.

"How's what going?" I said with a slight edge of irritation in my voice left over from the heart attack she gave me about five minutes prior.

"You know; _seducing my brother_!"

"Ugh. You make me sound like a cheap whore when you put it like that," I complained, "But I don't think its working; I mean, we get along great, fantastic even! And I definitely think we have so much potential for something more... but we both seem to be comfortable with where we are – or far too shy to take the next step. I just don't know what to do Alice; you'll be going in nearly two weeks and then what? We might never see each other again."

"Aww, Bella. You know you definitely have _potential for something more_, hell, it's inevitable that you two will get together! Just have patience, I know that once one of you is brave enough to take the first step, the rest will just fall into place."

"Have you been talking to Edward about this?" I asked, maybe slightly suspiciously.

"Nope."

I mulled over what she had said for a while, "You're sure that once one of us takes the first step, the other will follow?" I asked. She nodded and I carried on thinking, my thoughts having a touch more confidence to them and a load more determination. Just who did Tanya think she was? And why on earth were her parents letting her behave – and dress – like that?

Edward came back wet and looking relieved before he spotted Alice on the sofa next to me. His eyes darted suspiciously between the two of us as we looked innocently back at him. He wasn't buying it – neither would I, really – but let it go and sat himself down between me and Alice before asking what we were watching next.

"We could watch episode two," I suggested.

"Of what?" Alice asked.

"Star Wars," me and Edward both repeated in time with each other. We looked at each other and snickered immaturely.

"Ugh you two are such geeks! I think I'll leave you two to your little geek-a-thon and go talk make-up with Rosalie and maybe Tanya... she needs a little guidance in that department," Alice said as she walked out the door, winking at me just before her head disappeared from sight.

Edward looked suspiciously at me for a minute before saying, "The world of girls is a weird and mysterious place, which, for the good of myself and for all mankind around me, I should not venture into, whether the girl is forthcoming or not." He said with the air of someone repeating something they had been forced to memorise before turning his eyes back to me, smiling and continuing cheerily, "So, attack of the clones?"

"Yup," I nodded equally as enthusiastic.

"So who's your favourite jedi?" Edward asked as he inserted the DVD into the machine.

"Anakin... before he went bad. I know it's really cliché, but he's so_ cute_ in the first one!" Edward rolled his eyes and shook his head, which had me bristling. "So who's yours?" I challenged.

"Yoda, obviously! He's a little green thing that talks funny and yet can beat the crap out of almost everyone! Especially in the first three films."

I nodded, Yoda is definitely worthy..." we both chuckled and settled in to watch the film.

* * *

**A/N – **yeah, if you don't have maltesers or double deckers in America – or where ever else you live if you're reading this – then you are deprived. Seriously, seriously deprived.

Sorry about the wait... *sheepish grin* leave some love... =]


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